The Los Angeles Lakers have not ruled out the possibility of using the waive-and-stretch provision, sources tell Marc Stein of Substack.

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.