Why Lakers likely won’t deal Russell Westbrook; Celtics takeaways; Clippers dreams
After watching the Celtics, Clippers and Lakers play in Los Angeles this week, senior NBA writer Sam Amick shares his takeaways from the L.A. visit.
LOS ANGELES — Long before the missed Anthony Davis free throws that could have capped the Lakers’ incredible comeback against Boston on Tuesday night, or the puzzling overtime period in which he took just one shot while the Celtics somehow survived the final game of their West Coast trip, a crazy thing happened way back in the middle of the third quarter at Crypto.com Arena.
Russell Westbrook, who took so much blame for the Lakers’ early struggles this season that the name on his jersey should have read “Fall Guy,” provided much of the spark for the Lakers’ surge from 20 points down. And when he swatted a Jaylen Brown attempt at the rim after tracking him for the entire length of the floor — en route to finishing with 20 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, four blocks, two turnovers and a minus-1 rating — a nearby fan could be heard shouting the kind of encouragement that was nowhere to be found not too long ago: “Good job, Russ!”
My, oh my, how things have changed. And the fans, it seems, aren’t the only ones whose view of the Westbrook experience in Laker Land has evolved.
According to a source with knowledge of the Lakers’ plans, Westbrook’s play this past month has made it increasingly unlikely that he will be traded before the league’s Feb. 9 deadline. Since becoming a sixth man on Oct. 28, the 34-year-old, who is in the final year of his (massive) contract, has averaged 15.2 points, 7.9 assists, 5.8 rebounds, 3.8 turnovers and 28.2 minutes. For the sake of perspective, only six players (Luka Dončić, Nikola Jokić, Ja Morant, Pascal Siakam, Jrue Holiday and James Harden) have met those 15-7–and-5 marks so far this season. The Lakers have gone 11-12 in that span.
Production aside, Westbrook’s imperfect fit with these Lakers clearly remains an issue. Consider this: Even with those gaudy numbers that he has produced as a sixth man since Oct. 28, the Lakers’ net rating has been eight points better when he’s off the floor (plus-4.6) than when he’s on (minus-3.4; the worst mark among the team’s top seven rotational players in that span).
Still, the days of Westbrook being widely seen as the primary reason these Lakers have underperformed appear to be over. And that welcome development, it appears, has shifted the Lakers’ focus during this trade season that is just getting started.
As our Lakers beat writer, Jovan Buha, detailed on Dec. 1, the Lakers have been taking a three-pronged approach while the self-evaluation process continued. A quick review of that reporting…
Path 1 is to trade Westbrook, plus a pick or two, for a star or multiplayer haul.
Path 2 is to trade some combination of Patrick Beverley, Kendrick Nunn and picks (one first-round and/or multiple second-round picks) for role players who better address needs and upgrade the rotation.
Path 3 would be two separate deals: one with Westbrook plus one first-round pick, another using a Beverley-Nunn-pick package.
There’s always a never-say-never qualifier to trade stories this time of year, but the other element in play here is that the Lakers’ dream scenario — a star player becoming available in these early months — is still nothing more than a fantasy. Whether it’s DeMar DeRozan or Zach Lavine in Chicago, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in Oklahoma City, Bradley Beal in Washington or other players of that ilk, there is no Anthony Davis-esque scenario emerging like the one Lakers benefited from when he asked out of New Orleans in the summer of 2019.
As our Shams Charania reported on Monday, the Lakers have shown interest in Detroit’s Bojan Bogdanović and New York’s Cam Reddish and Evan Fournier. The pressure remains to make a move (or two) of significance, especially with the Lakers having lost four of their last five games and LeBron James making it clear in so many ways recently that his patience is waning.
But in terms of the Westbrook calculus, and the general question of whether he can help them recover from the 2-10 start to becoming a potent playoff team, there’s also a strong sense that the Lakers believe Westbrook’s contributions will only improve from here. First-year coach Darvin Ham deserves all sorts of credit here, as he managed to navigate Westbrook’s initial frustration with the decision to bring him off the bench.
Westbrook may not be thrilled with the role, but his improved play and intensity speak volumes about his willingness to accept the reality that it’s the right move for this team. This is why Lakers owner Jeanie Buss was known to be reluctant to give up on Westbrook in those days leading into training camp, when they came so close to doing the well-chronicled deal with Indiana that would have sent Westbrook to the Pacers in exchange for big man Myles Turner and sharpshooter Buddy Hield.
In the wake of the Lakers’ decision to fire former coach Frank Vogel, Ham had made it clear in the interview process that he would be willing to have these kinds of hard conversations with any individual for the sake of the collective. And while these Lakers (11-16; 12th in the West) are still a long way from salvaging this season, the notion of Westbrook being the root of all their problems is no more.
darthska
a STARTING SG for a 15th out of rotation player?
Unlike yalls starting SG, he ain’t out here tricking folks.
iight fam
