The Los Angeles Lakers acquired star guard Russell Westbrook, a 2024 second-round pick, and a 2028 second-rounder from the Washington Wizards in exchange for Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and the No. 22 pick in Thursday's draft, The Athletic's Shams Charania reports.
Harrell recently exercised his $9.7-million player option for next season, paving the way for a potential trade.
Westbrook desires a change of scenery after one season in Washington, and his preferred destination is the Lakers, sources told Charania. Meanwhile, the Wizards were motivated to make this trade in order to create salary-cap flexibility in hopes of building a talented roster around franchise star Bradley Beal, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Westbrook, who was born in Long Beach, California, averaged 22.2 points, 11.7 assists, and 11.5 rebounds across 65 starts in 2020-21. The floor general has 184 career triple-doubles and surpassed Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson's previous record of 181 this past season.
Los Angeles now features an imposing Big Three featuring Westbrook, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis, which should help the Lakers return to title contention following an injury-riddled 2020-21 campaign.
The trade cannot be completed until Aug. 6 due to the poison pill provision associated with Kuzma's contract, according to ESPN's Bobby Marks.
