The Lakers may not be able to win without Russell Westbrook, but they are finding they can’t win much with him, either.
And according to Bill Oram of The Athletic, sources say the Lakers no longer believe that they can go to where they want to go with Westbrook as the starting point guard. Some evidence of that may be the fact Westbrook was benched for all of the fourth quarter in Tuesday’s blowout home loss to the Bucks.
“Before Tuesday’s game, the thinking was the Lakers would be unwilling to wave the white flag and admit their mistake of trading for Westbrook,” RealGM relayed, via Oram.
But no matter how you spin it, there’s no question Westbrook has been a clunky fit next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Lakers also feature the oldest roster in league history and Westbrook has failed to generate the spark (or offense) the Lakers were seeking when they traded for him this past offseason.
He’s far from their only issue, of course, but as one Lakers’ staffer told Oram of the Westbrook fit, “I didn’t think it would be this bad.”
Worse, it’s highly unlikely that the Lakers will be able to trade Westbrook’s bloated contract before Thursday’s deadline. It appears that, at this point, their only realistic option would be Rockets point guard John Wall, who has been sitting out the season as Wall and Houston aim for a trade themselves.
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Considering he was brought in to be an optional scapegoat if the season didn’t go well, definitely not surprised. This isn’t the first hall of fame point guard LeBron doesn’t want to adjust for either.
For the record, this struggling Lakers season is on Pelinka. Not Westbrook. There was nothing unknown about Westbrook and how he played before the Lakers acquired him.
He is still a great player, for teams that know how to use him. Lakers simply do not (or unwilling).