With a team standing of 2 wins and 8 losses, there is no denying that the LA Lakers is having a difficulty this season despite the new additions to their team. With the return of Kobe and Meta World Peace, there seems to be a low impact to their ailing team. The presence of the number 2 draft pick D'Angelo Russell is likewise not being felt in their overall campaign.
As a result of this very poor starting performance of a once great team, rumors of trade have been connected since the start of the NBA season. With the relatively poor performance of Kobe since the start, it was rumored that Lakers would have to change the face of their franchise through Kevin Durant. NBA reported that Stephen Smith via ESPN's First Take said that, "I'm hearing if Kevin Durant doesn't stay in OKC, L.A. Is his primary objective and landing spot as opposed to South Beach or even his home of Washington, DC." However, it was quickly denied by KD saying that, "I don't talk to Stephen A. Smith at all. Nobody in my family, my friends, they don't talk to Stephen A. Smith, so he's lying."
It would be very essential for the Lakers to have a player that would be consistent of his game and who can contribute much score for the team right now, especially that their star player Kobe Bryant is only averaging 32 percent from the field.
Aside from Durant, another OKC player is being linked to Lakers. According to franchiseherald Lakers may be able to acquire Russell Westbrook by trading its young core D'Angelo Russell and Julius Randle plus Nick Young. Complex also stated that this move seems to be plausible especially that Kobe is not a trading option for Lakers, complex detailed that;
"So no, he's not on the trading block for Russell Westbrook. But you gotta invest in the future, man, and D'Angelo Russell and Julius Randle are the future if they're developed properly. They should be reliable by the time Kevin Durant reaches the end of his prime. And Swaggy P? I don't know-he's harmless, so let's just throw him in there."
Though the rumor as has been dubbed farfetched, still the reality of acquiring a point guard like Westbrook would definitely be a game changer for Lakers.
