Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers may be saying all the right things publicly, but they remain interested in trading Russell Westbrook.

Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer said the Lakers have explored a Westbrook-Bradley Beal deal.

"The one name that I've heard recently is Bradley Beal as another guy that they want. I'm not sure if the interest is as mutual. You know Beal, it seems like Miami would be more of the threat to take him away from Washington. I don't think you can also rule out Boston either because of his relationship with Jayson Tatum, but the Lakers are trying to angle for some moves like that using the Russ expiring and the '27 and the '29 firsts."

The Lakers are expected to explore trade talks for Westbrook this offseason even though they've been publicly committal about bringing him back next season. New Lakers coach Darvin Ham said Westbrook will "absolutely" be with the team next season at his introductory press conference.

"And Russell—don't get it messed up," Ham said. "Russ is one of the best players our league has ever seen and still has a ton left in that tank. I don't know why people tend to try to write him off. I'm going to approach him like I do every player I've ever encountered. We're going to talk about our running habits with the ball, without the ball. And, again, the team, the rhythm of the team and trying to establish a rhythm with LeBron, Russ and AD and, again, share the load defensively and offensively."

Westbrook is coming off a down 2021-22 season that saw him average 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists. He spent much of the season alone on an island with LeBron James and Anthony Davis dealing with injuries.

When Davis and James were on the floor, Westbrook's skill set proved to be an oil-water mix. He struggled in particular with James, with their propensity for needing the ball proving to be an awkward on-court mix.

The Lakers were arguably the NBA's most disappointing team, finishing 33-49 (11th in the West). Westbrook, 33, is under contract through the 2022-23 season and will make $47.1 million, which only further complicates any trade talks.

Darvin Ham is making an addition to his coaching staff.

The Los Angeles Lakers are hiring Atlanta Hawks assistant Chris Jent as their top assistant coach, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Ham recruited Jent to join the team over the last week.

Jent entered the NBA as an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2003-04 season and worked in the same capacity for the Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Sacramento Kings.

He helped oversee the development of current Laker LeBron James from 2006-11 while with the Cavaliers. James was an All-Star in each of those seasons and was the scoring champion in 2007-08.

The 52-year-old was also an assistant coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes twice and the head coach of the G League's Bakersfield Jam in the 2015-16 season.

Jent had served as an assistant for the Hawks for the last five years and worked alongside Ham in Atlanta during the 2017-18 season.

Wojnarowski noted Jent and Ham "have maintained a strong relationship" since their time working together with the Hawks.

The Lakers hired Ham earlier this month to replace Frank Vogel, who was fired after the team finished 11th in the Western Conference with a 33-49 record and missed the playoffs despite boasting a roster that included James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook.

L.A. struggled to remain healthy last season, and Westbrook had difficulty adjusting to life with his new team, which contributed to the organization's lack of success on the court.

That said, the Lakers front office is hoping Ham can navigate the team through a difficult Western Conference—led by the defending champion Golden State Warriors—and ultimately to the franchise's 18th title.

New Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said Thursday that veteran guard Russell Westbrook is up to the challenge he posed to him recently in terms of playing a more complete game next season.

Appearing on the Dan Patrick Show (h/t Ashish Mathur of Heavy.com), Ham said the following about his conversation with Westbrook:

"And one thing I mentioned to Russ is the way I'm built, the success I've seen—especially most recently in the last nine years and the last four years being with Coach Bud in Milwaukee, also in Atlanta, but in Milwaukee—one thing we always preached and will continue to preach to be our foundation of our teams is a defensive mindset, being able to defend at a high level.

"And I challenged him and he accepted the challenge. That's a part of the word 'sacrifice' we use. And being able to move him around in different spaces on the floor as we go back on the offensive end. Sometimes he's going to be off the ball slashing. Sometimes he's going to play in the dunker. Sometimes he's going to be initiating things. He may post up a little bit. He may be the screener in pick-and-rolls."

Ham added that he wants Westbrook to "diversify his plan of attack," and desires for Westbrook, LeBron James and Anthony Davis to all have a significant hand in the team's success next season.

After a rough first season with the Lakers in 2021-22, Westbrook is expected to exercise his $47.1 million player option and remain with the team next season.

Last offseason, the Lakers acquired Westbrook in a trade that sent Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Washington Wizards. The hope was that Westbrook would be the third star L.A. needed alongside James and Davis.

Instead, Westbrook scuffled through a down year on the heels of averaging a triple-double in four of the previous five seasons.

Westbrook started all 78 games he appeared in, averaging 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists while shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 29.8 percent from beyond the arc, marking his worst production since the 2009-10 season, which was his second year in the NBA as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The nine-time All-Star and one-time NBA MVP wasn't a good fit next to LeBron and AD out of the gates, and when both of the Lakers superstars missed time because of injury, Westbrook couldn't operate as a solo star and lead Los Angeles to wins consistently.

As a result of Westbrook's substandard play and the injury issues experienced by James and Davis, the Lakers finished a disappointing 33-49 and missed the playoffs just two years after winning a championship.

Head coach Frank Vogel turned out to be the scapegoat, as he was fired and replaced by Ham, who won a championship with the Bucks in 2021 as an assistant coach under Mike Budenholzer.

As demoralizing as last season may have been for the Lakers, there are still high hopes for the 2022-23 campaign because of the presence of James and Davis.

Unfortunately for the organization, the trio of James, Davis and Westbrook have such a high collective salary that it will be difficult to make other major additions around them.

Because of that, it is paramount for Ham to make that combination work if the Lakers are going to have any hope of returning to the playoffs and vying for a championship.

The Los Angeles Lakers' disappointing 2021-22 season featured a trade deadline in which the team didn't make any moves. They stuck with their core and tried to turn things around, but they were unsuccessful and went on to miss the playoffs.

That doesn't mean the Lakers weren't trying to make deals leading up to Feb. 10, though.

According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Los Angeles "called and poked around" on Toronto Raptors guard Gary Trent Jr. At the time, the Lakers were "dangling" a trade package featuring Kendrick Nunn, Talen Horton-Tucker and a first-round draft pick "throughout the league."

For whatever reason, nothing materialized. Trent stayed in Toronto and helped the Raptors make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. And the Lakers didn't complete any deals as their struggles continued.

Maybe it's time for Los Angeles to again call about the 23-year-old and perhaps step up its pursuit this offseason.

Sean Deveney of Heavy.com recently spoke to one Eastern Conference executive who believes a Trent trade could be "something to explore" for the Raptors, especially if they're not planning on signing him to a long-term deal. And there could be a scenario that ends up making sense for both Toronto and Los Angeles.

"The [draft] pick is the key thing, if the Raptors think that pick is going to be valuable, and it might very well be, then it makes some sense," the executive told Deveney. "Horton-Tucker and Nunn, you assume he is going to play again and be a pretty good bargain. The Raptors like Horton-Tucker, remember they wanted him in the Kyle Lowry deal that fell through with the Lakers."

Even if Los Angeles needs to offer a stronger package than Nunn, Horton-Tucker and a first-rounder, it should find a way to make a move for Trent. It could be worth the Lakers offering more draft capital or strengthening the offer in some way.

The Duke product spent his first two-and-a-half NBA seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, which traded him to the Raptors in March 2021. He's since filed a key starting role in Toronto and continued to improve.

This past season, Trent averaged a career-high 18.3 points in 70 games while shooting 41.4 percent from the field. He's also been a tremendous perimeter defender, an area of his game that keeps getting better.

Trent is the type of player the Lakers should be looking to add this offseason. They would just need to fit his $17.28 million salary for the 2022-23 season into their payroll. And it may only be a short-term solution, as there's reason to believe he could decline his $18.56 million player option for 2023-24, if he continues to keep upping his game next season.

Of course, whether L.A. adds Trent comes down to whether Toronto is willing to move him and what its asking price would be in that scenario. But if the Lakers have an opportunity to make it happen, they need to get it done and fill one of the bigger holes in their lineup.