Bulls Not Interested In Dealing With Lakers For Russell Westbrook, Future Picks

The Los Angeles Lakers are finding ways to bring in more talent, and to do that, they would need to sacrifice some assets.

Their biggest chip on the table is none other than Russell Westbrook.

But the kicker is the two future picks that teams such as the Indiana Pacers are interested in.

However, it appears that one team that has a player who had previously been linked to the Lakers is not interested in any scenario.

According to Joe Cowley of the Chicago-Sun Times, Bulls general manager Arturas Karnisovas is not inquisitive about a Westbrook trade or the two tradable first-round picks in 2027 and 2029.

Instead, the Bulls are leaning more toward playing the waiting game on Lonzo Ball, hoping that with a completely healthy roster, Chicago can turn things around this season.

The player that would make sense for the Lakers had a trade with the Bulls happened would be DeMar DeRozan.

He has been vocal about the possibility of joining the Lakers in 2021, and his fine play since then has shown that he could have given LeBron James and Anthony Davis big help.

But then again, that remains to be seen. DeRozan is on a team that does not have high-profile stars outside Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic.

Comparing his situation in the Windy City, there is no assurance that his performance thus far would be the same had he signed with the Lakers.

The same case holds now. There is no promise that DeRozan would perform at the same level given that he would have to play off the ball with James and Davis wanting to lead the charge most of the time.

Right now, a sensible move for the Lakers would be to add more bench players as they do not necessarily have to include Westbrook in any trade scenario and opt for a smaller trade deal.

This was covered in detail in a previous report here on the International Business Times.

The 2017 NBA Most Valuable Player has been doing well coming off the bench, but beyond that, there are players like Kendrick Nunn and Patrick Beverley who have not exactly proven to be of help to the Lakers' cause.