Report: Hornets are a ‘team to watch’ on the Russell Westbrook trade front

The Los Angeles Lakers were officially eliminated from playoff contention earlier this week, meaning it’s time for the organization to start thinking about the future.

Of course, the Russell Westbrook experiment has been a disaster for the Lakers, and many people would like to see the team part ways with the player this offseason.

The Lakers and Westbrook reportedly have mutual interest in splitting up, but if that happens, it remains to be seen what it’ll look like.

It’s no secret that trading Westbrook and his massive contract away is a tall task, and it doesn’t seem like there’s a ton of interest in the 33-year-old from other teams around the league.

However, some people around the NBA apparently think that the Charlotte Hornets are a team to keep an eye on when it comes to Westbrook.

“Charlotte has been increasingly mentioned by league insiders as a team to watch on the Westbrook front,” wrote NBA insider Marc Stein.

“All-Star guard LaMelo Ball is firmly ensconced as the Hornets’ face of the franchise and on-the-ball star, but one scenario making the rounds is a belief that the Hornets could emerge with Westbrook interest in the name of creating some financial flexibility.”

As L.A.’s season comes to a close, Westbrook’s 14th NBA season is about to end. So far this season, he’s averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game while shooting 44.4 percent from the field and just 29.8 percent from deep.

Westbrook certainly didn’t give the Lakers what they needed this season, although it was arguably unrealistic to expect him to. At this point, it’s clear that his fit with the rest of L.A.’s roster was destined to fail from the start.

If the veteran finds himself in a new situation next season, it’ll be fascinating to see what happens to his production. If he were to start playing at a high level again with a new team, it would say a lot about how big of an impact his imperfect role with the Lakers had on his production this season.