The Sports Report: Dodgers get Duffy and maybe Scherzer and Turner; Lakers get Westbrook

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

Mike DiGiovanna on the Dodgers: The Dodgers acquired veteran left-hander Danny Duffy from the Kansas City Royals on Thursday afternoon, a deal that probably didn’t excite the team’s fan base all that much.

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It turns out Andrew Friedman, the team’s president of baseball operations, was just getting warmed up.

The Dodgers were “very close” to acquiring ace right-hander Max Scherzer and All-Star shortstop Trea Turner from the Washington Nationals on Thursday evening, a blockbuster deal that would greatly enhance the team’s chances of winning its second straight World Series championship.

The trade was confirmed by two people familiar with negotiations but not authorized to speak publicly about it. Scherzer, according to sources, agreed to waive his rights as a player with 10 years of service time and five with the same team to veto the trade.

Max Scherzer

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The Dodgers will reportedly send their top two prospects, catcher Keibert Ruiz and pitcher Josiah Gray, as well as “mid-level” prospects Donovan Casey, a double-A outfielder, and Gerardo Carrillo, a double-A right-hander, to the Nationals.

Another person familiar with negotiations was not sure if the deal, which is pending the exchange of medical reports, would be finalized until Friday. “Just a lot of moving parts and details,” the source said.

In Scherzer, who is in the final year of a seven-year, $210-million contract that pays him $34.5 million this season, the Dodgers would get a three-time Cy Young Award winner who helped the Nationals win the 2019 World Series and is 8-4 with a 2.76 ERA in 19 starts this season.

Turner is batting .322 with an .890 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, 18 homers, 17 doubles and 49 RBIs in 96 games this season. He was placed on the COVID-19 injured list Thursday and can’t join the Dodgers until he completes mandatory quarantine and tests negative multiple times.

Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager, out since mid-May because of a right hand fracture, is expected to be activated this weekend, but Turner can play center field and second base as well as shortstop.

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LAKERS

Russell Westbrook

(Associated Press)

Broderick Turner on the Lakers: The Lakers have agreed to a deal to acquire All-Star guard Russell Westbrook from the Washington Wizards in exchange for Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Montrezl Harrell, according to two people with knowledge of the situation who are not authorized to speak on the matter.

The Lakers will send the draft rights to their 2021 first-round draft pick, Kentucky big man Isaiah Jackson, to the Wizards. There have been discussions about Washington sending Los Angeles a future second-round pick.

Having Harrell exercise his contract option Thursday worth $9.7 million for next season helped the Lakers make the deal for Westbrook.

Some details have to be worked out for the deal to be completed, which can’t become official until Aug. 6 when the salary cap is established, but the Lakers will have a Big 3 with Westbrook playing alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Westbrook, a local standout from Lawndale Leuzinger High and UCLA, has yearned to return home and help the Lakers win another championship, according to the people with knowledge of the situation.

He averaged a triple-double last season of 22.2 points, 11.5 rebounds and 11.7 assists.

Westbrook has two years left on his contract, $44.2 million for next season and $47 million for the 2022-23 season.

NBA DRAFT

Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham was selected with the No. 1 pick in the 2021 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons.

he Houston Rockets selected G League Ignite guard Jalen Green with the second pick and the Cleveland Cavaliers chose USC forward Evan Mobley at No. 3.

Stanford forward Ziaire Williams, another Los Angeles prep star from Sierra Canyon High, was selected by the New Orleans Pelicans with the No. 10 pick.

The Lakers reportedly will package their No. 22 overall pick along with Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Montrezl Harrell in a trade for Wizards guard Russell Westbrook.

Click here for pick-by-pick analysis.

RAMS

The Rams reported to training camp Tuesday in Irvine and started workouts Wednesday. Click here for our live blog of updates throughout training camp.

CHARGERS

The Chargers reported to training camp Tuesday in Irvine and started workouts Wednesday. Click here for our live blog of updates throughout training camp.

OLYMPICS

Where’s the Olympics coverage? You will be receiving a special Olympics edition of the Sports Report, which should hit your inbox around 7 a.m. PT each day, and will run daily during the Games. You can also check out all of our Olympics coverage by clicking here.

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1870 — Monmouth Park opens with a five-day meet.

1930 — Host Uruguay beats Argentina 4-2 for soccer’s first World Cup in Montevideo.

1932 — The 10th modern Olympic Games open in Los Angeles.

1961 — Jerry Barber edges Don January by one stroke in a playoff to win the PGA title at Olympia Fields in Illinois.

1966 — England beats West Germany 4-2 at London’s Wembley Stadium to capture soccer’s World Cup.

1968 — Washington’s Ron Hansen pulls off an unassisted triple play in a 10-1 loss to the Cleveland Indians.

1971 — In the NFL Chicago All-Star Game, the Baltimore Colts beat the All-Stars 24-17.

1976 — Bruce Jenner sets the world record in the Olympic decathlon with 8,618 points, breaking Nikolai Avilov’s mark by 164 points.

1980 — Houston pitcher J.R. Richard suffers a stroke during a workout at the Astrodome.

1984 — Michael Gross of West Germany sets a world record in the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 1:47.44 at a meet in Munich.

1996 — The American softball team wins the gold medal, beating China 3-1 behind a controversial two-run homer from Dot Richardson in the first Olympic competition in that sport.

2009 — Seven more world records on the fifth night of the world swimming championships in Rome are set, pushing the total to 29 and moving past last summer’s Beijing Olympics. Ryan Lochte gets things rolling by breaking Phelps’ mark in the 200-meter individual medley. The Chinese women finish it off, eclipsing the 800 freestyle relay mark by more than two seconds, with the Americans also breaking the previous record but only getting silver.

2012 — In London, Missy Franklin, a 17-year-old from Colorado, wins the women’s 100-meter backstroke. Franklin has a brief 13-minute break after taking the final qualifying spot in the 200 freestyle semifinals before she had to get back into the water for the backstroke final. Ruta Meilutyte, 15, becomes the first Lithuanian to win an Olympic swimming medal by holding off a late charge from world champion Rebecca Soni of the U.S. in the 100 breaststroke.

2013 — Katie Ledecky crushes the world record in the 1,500 freestyle for her second gold medal at the world swimming championships in Barcelona, Spain. The 16-year-old American finishes with a time of 15:36.53 to beat the previous mark by more than 6 seconds — Kate Ziegler’s 15:42.54 in 2007.

2015 — North Korea wins its first gold medal at the world aquatics championships through 16-year-old Kim Kuk Hyang in women’s 10-meter diving. In her first international competition, Kim produces a stunning final dive, earning two perfect 10 scores from the seven judges, for a total of 397.05 points. On the next dive, the leader up to that point, world champion Si Yajie of China, makes an error to drop to fourth.

And finally

Missy Franklin wins gold in the 100-meter backstroke at the 2012 Olympics. Watch it here.

Until next time…

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at houston.mitchell@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latimeshouston. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.