The Russell Westbrook Lakers experiment isn’t working as well as they’d hope.
The team isn’t good at all and there have even been talks about him coming off of the bench.
Now, according to NBA reporter Marc Stein, Russell Westbrook’s time with the Lakers will likely be ending after this season.
Jousting with reporters in press conferences is apparently not the lone source of pushback these days from under-fire guard Russell Westbrook. There has been no shortage of defiance behind the scenes, I’m told, when coaches and teammates have tried to broach changes in role or approach with the former MVP. For all the obvious complexities involved in trying to move Westbrook when he’s owed a whopping $47 million next season at age 34, one league source described the idea of bringing him back next season as “impossible” based on current tension levels. The question then becomes: If the Lakers can’t construct a palatable trade, do they try to just buy Westbrook out? Or waive and stretch him?
Russ should definitely be better but it seems like saying the fit is wrong and he should come off the bench is lazy analysis. First, how will bringing him off the bench help the Lakers? It will just make him mad and even if he wasn’t mad how will that change his game? Second, the fit seems to work. Russ is getting the shots the team wants him to, he’s just missing layups and open midrange shots. Would be a different conversation if he was shooting efficiently. Third, the Lakers problem is all about effort. Russ contributes to that but the team as a whole only gives effort on defense for about 5 minutes a game.
Russ is just the scapegoat for a much bigger problem. The marriage does seem like it needs to end though.
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