Latest Westbrook trade rumors highlight challenges of any Russ trade

One of the reasons for the growing sense the Lakers may have to run it back with Russell Westbrook — the reason new coach Darvin Ham has been so direct challenging the former MVP — is there is no real trade market for him. His trade value is at an all-time low, and the Lakers don’t have a lot of options.

Two Westbrook trade rumors/scenarios floating around the past 24 hours shed light on just how difficult it will be to make a Westbrook deal.

One comes from ESPN’s draft guru Jonathan Givony, who mentioned it on The Lowe Post podcast, and of course it got aggregated and discussed: Westbrook, Talen Horton-Tucker and a 2026/27 first-round pick to the Indiana Pacers for Malcolm Brogdon. Givony said there was no interest from Indiana.

First, the only way to make that trade work financially is for Buddy Hield to be paired with Brogdon heading back to Los Angeles. So the Pacers would send out two starting-quality players to get back Westbrook — who would not be happy in Indiana, would be taking the ball out of Tyrese Haliburton‘s hands, and would be an expensive buyout — plus Horton-Tucker, who did not take a big step forward last season. Oh, and a pick that’s four-or-five years out. Of course the Pacers said no to this, even in a rebuild that is not enough of a return. They can do better with other Brogdon and maybe Hield trades.

Then there is Kyrie Irving.

The Lakers were mentioned as a potential destination for Irving in Monday’s “agent tries to gain leverage” spin on the stuck negotiations between the Nets and Irving.

It’s nearly impossible to put together an Irving to the Lakers trade that works in the real world. First, to facilitate a trade to Los Angeles, Irving would have to opt into the $36.5 million final year of his