The Lakers don't have control over their own pick until 2026.
If not for the dumb luck of some star forcing their way to the Lakers every 5 years or so, there is not a franchise in worse shape in the league than the Lakers, but that dumb luck probably isn't in the cards for a while... they're just too pathetic for anyone to force their way there.
They can't tank, they're old as hell, they've got zero young talent to build around, they have no tradeable assets outside of picks in 2027 and 2029... and the main reason those have value is that the rest of the league expects the Lakers to be in the toilet at the time.
If the Lakers actually pulled off a trade of Westbrook and 2 firsts for Hield and Turner... they're probably a playoff team for the next year or 2, but not a contender for the title.
It really is staggering how bad they messed that team up. No matter how much one might hate LeBron, you surround him with some good shooters and you're at least a contender, that has been an NBA rule for 15 years. The Lakers followed the formula in 2019/2020 and won a title... then they broke that team up for no reason, then they let LeBron force the Westbrook trade and now... they're a joke.
My favorite joke.