NBA Rumors: Lakers Have Approached Teams About Trading Russell Westbrook

Yes, the Los Angeles Lakers are on a bit of a run, seemingly striking gold with their move of LeBron James to center, now winners of three straight. And yes, Russell Westbrook even went a full game Tuesday night without committing a turnover (first time in 408 games), but it's still hard to argue against the fact, as Sam Amick of The Athletic points out, that Westbrook has been "an awkward fit" with LeBron and Co.

Now comes word that the Lakers, in fact, showed some "covert interest" in trading Westbrook earlier this season, when it became obvious that the fit just wasn't right. According to Amick:

All of which explains why sources say the Lakers showed some covert interest in discussing a possible Westbrook trade with rival executives earlier this season. A deal appears extremely unlikely before the Feb. 15 (sic — actually Feb. 10) trade deadline, if only because his deal that was once seen by so many as untradeable is such a massive obstacle. But inside the Lakers, it seems, there is some recognition that this hasn’t gone as (James and Davis had) planned.

One opposing team's scout told Amick that the 'Westbrook as Big-Two Insurance' theory for why the Lakers brought him in doesn't apply to times when Anthony Davis is out of the lineup. “It’s only insurance if LeBron goes down," said the scout. "You can’t have two balls for 48 minutes, (and) Russ is useless off the ball and too erratic with the ball.”

As if to prove that scout's comments wrong (or perhaps to highlight them), Westbrook's zero turnover game Tuesday night snapped his 407-straight games streak with at least one, which was "by far" the longest in the NBA in decades.

Lakers guard Russell Westbrook did not commit a turnover tonight. He snaps his streak of 407 straight games with at least 1 turnover, by far the longest streak by any player since individual turnovers were first tracked in 1977-78. @ESPNStatsInfo pic.twitter.com/UvaRXsozwK
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) January 5, 2022

Russ is averaging 19.5 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists this season, though that comes along with a league-2nd-worst 4.6 turnovers, and 30% shooting from long-range.

Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports