1. Russell Westbrook to the Lakers
The 2020-21 Lakers underachieved in part because they were exhausted from winning the Finals less than three months before their season began. Their Finals opponent, the Miami Heat, experienced a similar malaise.
Therefore, as destructive as the Gobert trade was, and will remain through 2029 and beyond, at least the Wolves hadn’t been recent NBA champions prior to their abhorrent trade, as the Lakers were.
The Westbrook trade itself swapped two awesome role players on very good contracts (sound familiar, Mavericks fans?) in Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, for an overpaid superstar who made no basketball sense next to LeBron James.
The first-round pick the Lakers also sent to Washington was a minor detail. A more significant one, in my mind, was that by increasing their payroll as a result of this trade, the Lakers may have been more reluctant to keep Alex Caruso (stupid, penny-pinching billionaires). This cannot be proved, but it can and should be speculated on.
Prior to dealing for Westbrook, the Lakers were considered a formidable team, if not still one of only a handful of true contenders. In the two years since they have yet to sniff 500.