One of the NBA’s worst-kept secrets in recent memory is that Buddy Hield was almost traded to the Lakers last summer before Rob Pelinka and the front office pivoted — reportedly under heavy influence from LeBron James and Anthony Davis — to acquire Russell Westbrook from the Washington Wizards instead.
That deal sent Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell, the players that would have reportedly gone to the Sacramento Kings for Hield, to Washington along with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and a first-round pick, depleting the Lakers of all their best trade assets in exchange for another superstar whose time in L.