Report: Jazz, Lakers discuss trade involving Conley, Beasley, Westbrook
The Los Angeles Lakers' future first-round picks could yet be moved for the right package.
L.A. has held discussions with the Utah Jazz regarding a blockbuster swap that would send guard Mike Conley, swingman Malik Beasley, and potentially other rotation players to Los Angeles for Russell Westbrook and the Lakers' first-round selections in 2027 and 2029, sources told ESPN's Tim MacMahon.
Utah would likely then buy out the remainder of Westbrook's $47.1-mllion salary this season, according to MacMahon, allowing the guard to sign elsewhere as a free agent.
The Lakers have ostensibly been reluctant to part with their 2027 and 2029 selections. The pair of future first-round picks are the earliest that can be traded due to the Stepien Rule, which forbids teams from dealing their own future first-rounders in back-to-back years. The New Orleans Pelicans have control of Los Angeles' firsts through 2025 thanks to the 2019 Anthony Davis trade.
However, the Lakers have recently appeared more willing to deal the picks. They reportedly offered both to the Brooklyn Nets, along with Westbrook, for Kyrie Irving, but Brooklyn opted instead to ship the disgruntled star to the Dallas Mavericks.
It's unclear which other players could head to the Lakers alongside Conley and Beasley, but those two alone would amount to significant upgrades for LeBron James and Co., who are 13th in the Western Conference at 25-29.
Conley would give the franchise a veteran pass-oriented starting point guard to better complement James and Davis, while Beasley's play off the bench would bolster a Lakers reserve unit that currently ranks seventh last in the league with a minus-1 net rating.