With one day to go before the 2022 NBA Draft and nine days to go before teams are allowed to start talking to free agents, there is no shortage of rumors swirling around the league.
As is often the case, a good chunk of those rumors have to do with the Los Angeles Lakers, especially since they’re apparently still looking to unload Russell Westbrook.
In recent days, the rumors have been coming in fast and furious fashion.
Westbrook could be traded to the Brooklyn Nets for Kyrie Irving.
Westbrook could head to the nation’s capital for Bradley Beal.
Westbrook may be packing his bags for Cleveland in return for Collin Sexton.
Another rumor has the nine-time All-Star going to the Charlotte Hornets for a package of players.
This last rumor has actually been circulating for a little while.
Plenty of Lakers fans are dreaming of a reunion between Irving and LeBron James, or perhaps having a young and improving star guard such as Sexton in the Purple and Gold.
But such a trade will be hard to pull off for several reasons.
On the other hand, a Westbrook-to-Charlotte trade may be the most realistic option for L.A. right now, not to mention the most economical one.
Who could the Lakers get for Westbrook?
Reportedly, the Hornets are looking to remodel their roster a bit, and they also reportedly have some “real” interest in going after Westbrook.
The player most mentioned whom L.A. would likely take back is Gordon Hayward, a veteran sharpshooter.
Yes, Hayward is injury-prone, and yes, he is expensive, as he will get paid approximately $30 million a year for the next two seasons.
But he is a deadly 3-point shooter who made 39.1 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc this season.
Hayward is also a legitimate scorer in general. He put up 15.9 points a game this year, and last year he was at 19.6 points per contest.
He can get to the free throw line pretty often relative to how much he shoots the ball, and when he gets there, he is pretty dependable, as evidenced by his career 82.6 percent accuracy from the charity stripe.
Having averaged 3.5 assists per game for his career, Hayward can also get others involved a bit.
One question is whether he’d be willing to come off the bench in L.A. He has started the vast majority of his games in the NBA, but with the Lakers, he’d almost certainly have to be recast in a sixth-man type of role.
The only way for Hayward to start with the Purple and Gold is if Anthony Davis starts at…
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