NBA Rumors: LA Lakers expected to resume trade talks with Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers

The Portland Trail Blazers handed the LA Lakers their third consecutive loss of the season, as Lillard and company took a 106-104 win on the road. Damian Lillard scored a game-high 41 points, five rebounds and two assists, shooting 6-for-13 from deep.

Following the outing, Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer provided an update on the deal with the Indiana Pacers, and heavily propounded trading Westbrook.

Buddy Hield and Myles Turner's package was touted right before training camp, but the LA Lakers decided to start the season with Westbrook on their roster. However, according to O'Connor, talks with the Utah Jazz could emerge soon:

"Utah has been connected to the Lakers for months, too. League sources say that before the Jazz sent Bojan Bogdanovic to the Pistons, the Lakers offered Westbrook, a future first-round pick, and second-rounders for Bogdanovic and others.

"Sources expect the Lakers and Jazz to resume talks later in the season with some combination of other players discussed. (Utah has Jordan Clarkson, Mike Conley, and Rudy Gay—three veterans who can all shoot.) (via) The Ringer

O'Connor also threw light on Indiana's position, writing that the talks with the Pacers are currently on hold.

LA Lakers drop third-straight game, log their third-worst shooting night of the season

Damian Lillard takes a jumpshot over Lonnie Walker IV of the LA Lakers

The LA Lakers sought relief in vain as they dropped their third-straight game to start the season.

After shooting 25% (10-for-40) from three-point range against the Warriors on opening night, and shooting 20% (nine-for-45) against the Clippers, LAL's shooting sunk even further, as they shot 18.2% (six-for-33) from deep against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.

To understand just how poor that outing was, Damian Lillard shot 6-for-13 from deep in the same game. Lillard made more three-pointers in 34 minutes than the entire Lakers team in regulation time.

The Lakers led by as many as eight points throughout the game, and after leading for most of the fourth-quarter, managed to give up the lead after a missed Westbrook jumpshot from deep.

While LeBron and anyone on the side of the LA Lakers' understood Westbrook's shot to be an incredibly poor decision, LeBron refrained from criticizing Westbrook in the postgame interview:

"I don't know, I feel like this is an interview to try and set me up to say something, I can tell you guys are into the whole Russell Westbrook category right now, I don't like to lose, I hate to lose.

"I don't care what happens throughout the course of this season, throughout the course of my career, I hate to lose, especially the way we had this game. ... I won't do it (talk about Westbrook), I've said it over and over." (via) Rob Perez

Russell Westbrook's lack of a jumpshot and inefficient scoring has long been overlooked. Even during his 2016-17 MVP season, his numbers drop dramatically when shots (2-point or 3-point field goal) aren't wide-open (closest defender six-plus feet away).

Westbrook shot 44.6% from the field when the shots were open, and 42.4% when they were tight, and a measly 32.8% when the shots were very tight. Westbrook shot 35.4% on open 3-pointers, which was slightly worse than the 2016-17 league average on all types of three-point shots (35.8%).

With Westbrook submerged in a polemical narrative, it is more than likely that he will find himself on another team before the trade deadline this season.