We aren't needed if Brooklyn is willing to eat out Westbrook's salary. But that implies they're willing to add 10M more in salary, plus the tax implications of that, plus the fact that when Westbrook's deal expires they have nothing to show for that cap space. If Brooklyn is trying to contend now, they're better served sending Westbrook to a third team, and getting actual contributors instead. I don't think any of this will happen, however, mainly because the Lakers seem to be in an extremely speculative position, holding out for who knows what deal that meets their standards. That deal will eventually come, the question is whether that happens before LeBron finds himself in a retirement home.