There are more indications that the Los Angeles Lakers could end up moving Russell Westbrook before Thursday's trade deadline. Rumors are heating up that the Lakers and Utah Jazz have discussed a deal involving Westbrook and point guard Mike Conley.

One day after ESPN reported that the Jazz had conversations about acquiring the Lakers' guard, former NBA player J.J. Redick said on his podcast that he's heard a Westbrook-for-Conley swap is close to being done. Westbrook has been in trade rumors for the entire season, and it's no secret that the Lakers have been exploring trades involving the veteran.

Westbrook and Conley would only be part of the proposed trade. Malik Beasley and potentially other players would go to the Lakers. Utah would receive Los Angeles' 2027 and 2029 first-round round picks.

The Lakers tried to trade Westbrook and future first-round draft picks for Kyrie Irving, according to multiple reports. The Brooklyn Nets instead went with the Dallas Mavericks' offer of draft picks, Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie. LeBron James said that he was disappointed the Lakers weren't able to trade for Irving.

Amid the trade rumors, Westbrook had a heated exchange with Lakers head coach Darvin Ham during halftime of Los Angeles' game against the Oklahoma City Thunder Tuesday night, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Ham was reportedly frustrated with how Westbrook stayed for too long on the court floor after being subbed out of the game.

The reported argument happened not long before James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record at the end of the third quarter. Westbrook finished with 27 points, four rebounds and eight assists in a 133-130 loss.

The defeat dropped the Lakers to 25-30 on the season. Only two teams in the Western Conference have a worse record than Los Angeles. The Lakers are two games out of the final spot for the play-in tournament.

Even with James performing at an All-NBA level and Anthony Davis back healthy, the Lakers don't look anything like a contender. Using Westbrook in a trade is probably the Lakers' only hope of putting together any sort of playoff run.

Westbrook is in the final year of his contract, which pays him $47.1 million for the 2022-23 season.

Russell Westbrook, Los Angeles Lakers
Russell Westbrook #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates after scoring a basket and getting fouled against the Denver Nuggets during the second half at Crypto.com Arena on October 30, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images