Acquiring Westbrook Makes Some Sense For Rebuilding Jazz

What’s that you hear? Rumors of Russell Westbrook to Utah?! (Trent Nelson, The Salt Lake Tribune)

Bring up the Lakers or Russell Westbrook to a Utah Jazz fan, and you’re likely to elicit a strong reaction. For many Jazz fans, helping the Lakers improve or imagining Russell Westbrook as a Utah acquisition is a non-starter. But remove feelings from the equation, and there are a lot of reasons the rumors of a Westbrook-centered transition make sense.

First, let’s operate under the assumption that Donovan Mitchell will be traded. At this point we’re imagining Danny Ainge and Leon Rose sequestered in a staring contest, waiting for the other to blink. (Spoiler alert: Utah’s CEO put in eye drops before the contest started.) It feels like the trade is a foregone conclusion, and we’re just waiting for the shoe to drop before other veterans are moved and the rebuild begins in earnest.

So, why Westbrook?

1. Westbrook would likely be cut from the Jazz.

If the Jazz trade for Westbrook, they could immediately waive him or negotiate a buyout. This has happened before. Utah once traded for another former MVP in Derrick Rose, who never wore a Jazz jersey.

(As an aside, here’s some fun trivia: if the Jazz trade for Westbrook, he would be just the third MVP to grace the franchise’s roster sheets. Derrick Rose was a Jazzman for 2 days, and Karl Malone was for 6,568 days.)

2. The Jazz are short on roster spots.

The Jazz currently have only one free roster spot available. The Jazz can carry up to 20 players in the offseason, but they’ll need to trim that number to 15 before the season starts. Most Mitchell trade frameworks involve the Jazz bringing back 3-4 players. Simply put, they need to make some moves to reduce the number of under-contract Jazzmen, especially if they are planning any 3-for-1 or even 4-for-1 acquisitions.

(As another aside, there’s a chance Rose is traded again to the Jazz and subsequently waived once more.)

The Jazz could send 3-4 players to Los Angeles in a Westbrook trade — and the former All-Star himself would likely be cut eventually, too. So a deal like this gets closer to solving Utah’s roster spot issue.

3. Trading Utah’s other veterans could be tricky.

If the Jazz move Mitchell, they’ll be incentivized to lose a lot of games next season. Keeping veteran players like Mike Conley or Bojan Bogdanovic makes losing harder. The Jazz can also show goodwill toward older players by allowing them to finish their careers on winning teams. Reports say that any of Utah’s veterans could be available.

The tricky thing is that the Jazz have a lot of them: Conley, Bogdanovic, Jordan Clarkson, Patrick Beverley, and Rudy Gay are all in their 30s. Even Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt could be moved. It’s no easy task to move 5-7 players, especially after many teams have already completed their free agency moves.

Ideally, the Jazz want to trade these veteran players in exchange for draft picks or young players. One option is to trade a veteran into a trade exception while bringing back a draft pick and no other salary in return. But no team has a trade exception valued over $10 million, so that route is a dead end for most of the club’s veterans.

Another path is to trade a veteran for an expiring contract and draft compensation. But there are few expiring contracts are considered “bad” this season. The Jazz could take on a longer term salary like Davis Bertans or Duncan Robinson — but doing so would clog up their salary cap for the next few years.

The Jazz can probably trade two or three veterans separately before the season starts. Bogey, Clarkson, and Beverley in particular could be easy to move. Conley and Gay may have smaller markets. A Westbrook deal would allow the Jazz to trade 3-4 of those vets in one move. If you want a detailed breakdown at what that trade could entail, check out Eric Walden’s piece at the Salt Lake Tribune.

4. The Lakers’ draft picks could be really good.

The Lakers can trade their 2027 and 2029 first-round picks. In 2027, LeBron James will be 43 and Anthony Davis will be 34 — chances are neither are on the team. The big-market Lakers have the ability to turn things around fast, but they were also bad for a long time between Kobe Bryant’s tenure and the LeBron era. These could easily be lottery picks. Even second-round picks in the 2026–29 range could be valuable.

5. A competitive Lakers team improves the value of Utah’s draft picks.

The Jazz have multiple Minnesota picks from the Rudy Gobert trade. The lower the Wolves are in the standings, the better value Utah gets in their draft picks. While it’s a small thing, if the Lakers are better than the Timberwolves, it helps the Jazz. But for Jazz fans that find helping the Lakers unpalatable, I understand if this particular argument feels feeble.

What makes this trade difficult?

Really, it comes down to the draft picks. The Lakers should be hesitant to trade both their 2027 and 2029 picks — especially unprotected. The Jazz may find just one first-round pick insufficient, especially if they believe that taking Westbrook’s salary is worth a pick on its own and their own veterans could bring back picks in separate deals. Perhaps there’s a middle ground where the Lakers add pick protections or include pick swaps or second-round picks.

The good news is Utah has a leverage advantage. While it would help the Jazz to trade multiple veterans in a single deal, they can afford to be patient. Starting the season with Conley or Clarkson isn’t a terrible scenario. And the Lakers happen to have James, who is likely fine mortgaging the franchise’s future in exchange for immediate improvement.

Another wrinkle is the Kyrie Irving situation. While a Westbrook-for-Kyrie swap looks difficult to pull off, the Lakers probably want to make sure that door is closed before pursuing other options.

The Jazz have their own situation they’re waiting on. If and when the Mitchell trade happens, a new slew of trade opportunities will open. And like it or not, the Lakers could be a good trade partner.