Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves are finalizing a deal that would send Russell Westbrook to Utah and D’Angelo Russell to Los Angeles, ESPN and The Athletic reported on Thursday.
Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt also will be headed to the Lakers, while the Jazz will receive a top-four-protected 2027 first-round pick plus Juan Toscano-Anderson and Damian Jones from Los Angeles, per the reports.
Minnesota will acquire Mike Conley Jr. and Nickeil Alexander-Walker from Utah and will receive second-round draft-pick compensation as part of the deal.
As per The Athletic, the Timberwolves will get additional second-round draft picks, too. The NBA trade deadline is Thursday.
Westbrook, 34, has been ineffective since coming to the Lakers ahead of the 2021-22 season. He’s started just three of 52 games this season and is averaging 15.9 points per game. He reportedly had a heated verbal exchange with coach Darvin Ham after Tuesday’s game, during which LeBron James broke the all-time scoring mark.
Russell will be returning to the Lakers, who drafted him No. 2 overall in 2015 before trading him to Brooklyn in June 2017 for Kyle Kuzma and Brook Lopez.
Russell, 26, was in his fourth season in Minnesota. The 2018-19 All-Star is averaging 17.9 points and 6.2 assists per game in 54 starts this season. His points production has decreased every season in Minnesota since averaging 21.7 for the Timberwolves in 12 games in 2019-20. He is a career 17.7-point scorer for four teams.
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