The Lakers’ front office has been rumored to be hesitant in dealing their only draft capital currently available in their 2027 and 2029 picks to dump the Westbrook contract and improve their roster. However, this information was directly tied to a swap of Russell for an unreliable Kyrie Irving. For the price of 2 unprotected firsts, a pair of seconds, THT, and Austin Reaves, they can solidify their starting unit and increase their depth. Although some of the pieces acquired had down seasons, a starting lineup of 1. Conley 2. Bogdanovic 3. LeBron 4. Randle 5. AD is worlds apart from their current starting lineup that looks play-in bound.

With the involvement of the Lakers, the Knicks can acquire Mitchell for a far more reasonable price than the previous asking price of all 7 first-rounders they currently have in stock. 5 firsts, 3 swaps, Grimes, Toppin, and Quickly are sent directly to Utah and the Knicks are able to dump the 4-year Julius Randle contract to the Lakers (which they reportedly are hoping to do for future cap flexibility for upcoming free agency in 2024). They also are able to retain RJ and Reddish by including the Lakers and the trade of Randle.

Utah essentially finalizes the majority of their rebuild and dumping of talent in one fell swoop dealing Mitchell, Bojan, Conley, and Rudy Gay, for 7 1st rounders, 6 of which are unprotected, a pair of seconds, and a stack of young assets in Grimes, Quickly, THT, Reaves, and Obi Toppin. The extra compensation was obviously received for swallowing the Russell Westbrook contract, which would be bought out immediately. With the Westbrook expiring contract off the books in the offseason, they will be able to continue absorbing bad contracts and acquiring additional draft capital in the OKC model of operation.