Lakers have not ruled out the possibility of using the waive-and-stretch provision on Westbrook

The Lakers potentially see stretching Westbrook as a way of keeping Monk as worth it in and of itself.

The Los Angeles Lakers are still considering whether to stretch or not Russell Westbrook’s contract.

Per Marc Stein (via RealGM), The Lakers could take Westbrook’s $47 million salary and stretch it over three years at approximately $15 million per year, which would take the team out of the luxury tax and also make it easier to retain Malik Monk.

The Lakers potentially see stretching Westbrook as a way of keeping Monk as worth it in and of itself.

In order to free themselves of Westbrook’s contract otherwise would mean taking on bad salary and/or trading future draft assets.