The Official NBA Season Thread: NBA Cup Night

[N41D]

How on god’s green earth did the Bulls look themselves in the mirror and say “nah we’re good we’ll hold” this week?

 

[antidope]

Ben Simmons is painful tp watch

 

[reconic supreme]

Good god, Ben is uh horrible

What a fall from grace

 

[don ramon]

nets will be fine after those two weirdos

also, the knicks will make the playoffs into the second round

 

[lynchpin33]

A Lakers dream turned to nightmare: Inside the 'toxic' end of the Russell Westbrook era

Both sides tried to salvage this partnership, but in the last week before Wednesday's trade, it became clear it was time to move on.

theathletic.com

Spoiler

A Lakers dream turned to nightmare: Inside the ‘toxic’ end of the Russell Westbrook era
Sam Amick and Jovan Buha

Feb 9, 2023

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After a tumultuous 18 months, the Lakers and Russell Westbrook finally moved on from one another.

As part of a three-team deal with the Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves, the Lakers traded Westbrook, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones and a first-round pick to Utah, and a 2024 second-round pick to Minnesota, league sources told The Athletic on Wednesday. The Lakers received D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt in the trade. Westbrook was sent to the Jazz, though he’s expected to be bought out and will command interest from the Clippers and Bulls, according to The Athletic and Turner Sports.

The Lakers believe there is an addition-by-subtraction element to dealing the nine-time All-Star. The situation had become untenable over the past week or so, multiple team and league sources close to the situation told The Athletic, all of whom were granted anonymity so that they could speak freely. Two sources described the situation as “toxic.” And while Lakers owner Jeanie Buss was known to be against the idea of waiving Westbrook, sources say there was a strong sense from the coaching staff that it might be necessary if no trade was forthcoming.

Lakers coaches had grown frustrated with Westbrook’s recent behavior, and he was known to be upset with being openly mentioned in trade discussions. Both sides were ready to move on from an imperfect partnership.

The trade ends Westbrook’s disastrous tenure with the Lakers – a homecoming marred by his awkward fit on and off the court, and multiple injuries to the Lakers’ two other stars. Los Angeles was 22-22 in the 44 games that LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Westbrook played together across two seasons, a subpar record for a trio of Top 75 players and future Hall of Famers still producing at high levels.

Westbrook’s exit was nearly a year in the making. The Lakers explored trading him at the 2022 trade deadline before more seriously considering it last offseason in potential deals with Brooklyn for Kyrie Irving and Indiana for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield. Those developments being so public naturally affected Westbrook, though he denied it publicly.

“No. I do not,” he said Saturday when asked if trade rumors affected him. “That’s not up to me. Like I said, I’ve known this was a business since I was 18, 19 years old, since I got into it. My dad taught me that at that age, getting to this league is a business, and people make whatever decision they make. And I’ll make sure I’m ready and professional, like I always have been and always will be.”

Tension had been rising inside the Lakers’ locker room with James’ scoring record, the team’s inconsistency and the trade deadline looming, as demonstrated by the silent, awkward atmosphere before and after losses in New Orleans and against Oklahoma City – the latter despite James passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. James’ pro-Irving tweets, postgame “duh” comment in New Orleans and interview with ESPN about being disappointed in not trading for Irving added even more eyes on the Lakers’ internal dynamics.

During the second quarter of Tuesday’s 133-130 loss to the Thunder, Westbrook and assistant coach Phil Handy had a verbal confrontation on the sideline — their second in roughly a month — which eventually earned the Lakers a delay of game warning. That upset the bench and led to a more contentious argument between Westbrook and head coach Darvin Ham during intermission, as first reported by ESPN on Wednesday.

Halftime of Westbrook’s Lakers finale was an emblematic ending to his time with the franchise. Ham went, well, HAM on the entire team because of its porous defensive effort in the first half. The Lakers had given up 76 first-half points to a young Thunder team that entered play averaging just 58.1 points in every other first half of this season.

So Ham, whose offseason pitch to land this coaching job had included a promise to communicate directly, candidly and fearlessly with his players, did just that when the team reached the locker room. He admonished them for focusing too much on their individual play, and implored them to take more pride and compete.

“His message was that it’s bulls—,” one team source said.

But when Ham turned his attention to Westbrook and his specific individual struggles, sources say the future Hall of Famer appeared to take it personally. As had been the case so many times before, when the coaching staff struggled with Westbrook’s unwillingness to be held accountable for his play, Westbrook wasn’t hearing it.

Ham, sources say, was upset at a number of on-court developments from the first half. But the final straw, it seems, was Westbrook’s choice to walk off the court so slowly after he was replaced late in the second quarter. For both parties, the topic of great disagreement centered on respect — or lack thereof. In the end, with the tension in the room adding to the toxicity of their environment yet again, they agreed to disagree.

Only Westbrook truly knows what these past 18 months have been like for him and his family. This was a lifelong dream realized, a chance to come back to the city of Los Angeles, where he rose to prominence at Leuzinger High and then UCLA. He had been personally recruited by James and Davis during their summer of superstar shopping in 2021, then helped get the trade over the finish line by making a personal plea to Wizards owner Ted Leonsis to let him head for home.

Remember, the Lakers had been on the verge of doing a deal with Sacramento that would have landed them shooting guard Buddy Hield in exchange for Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell. The Kings, league sources said then, firmly believed that the deal was all but done. But just like that, everything changed and the Lakers got Westbrook instead.

While James now often says that roster management is vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka’s job, the proverbial separation of church and state didn’t exist when this deal went down. From both ends of this spectrum – Westbrook’s maneuvering with Washington, James and Davis exerting their influence on the Lakers – this was a superstar-driven trade if ever there was one. It was a partnership born out of a power play, one that would ultimately prove costly to the Lakers in ways that went well beyond what they gave up in the deal (Kuzma, Harrell, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and the draft rights to Isiaah Jackson, the No. 22 pick in the 2021 draft).

Former Lakers coach Frank Vogel paid a price for the Westbrook addition, as his inability to inspire total buy-in from the future Hall of Famer was a significant factor in his April 2022 firing. Never mind that he was just 18 months removed from leading the Lakers to the storied franchise’s 17th title in the Orlando bubble.

For Westbrook’s part, he spent last summer wondering what might come next. In mid-July, he parted ways with his longtime agent, Thad Foucher of the Wasserman Media Group, who cited “irreconcilable differences” over their view of the Lakers’ situation. Westbrook later signed with Jeff Schwartz of Excel. His future was as uncertain as ever entering the season, with Lakers officials spending those days before training camp deciding whether to execute the well-chronicled deal with Indiana that would have landed them center Turner and Hield.

When the games resumed, Ham followed through on his promise to hold Westbrook accountable. He developed a strong relationship with him upon arrival, then leaned on that personal capital in all of their hard conversations along the way. He convinced Westbrook to come off the bench in mid-October, and that ‘exploratory move’ went well enough in those next two months that the Lakers were no longer focused on trading Westbrook because he wasn’t seen as a pivotal reason for their problems.

But that would eventually change. The familiar discomfort of this Westbrook-Lakers dynamic returned when Davis’ extended absence brought their on-court issues back to the surface. James’ social media posts at the end made the off-court element with Westbrook uncomfortable again.

Once James started publicly declaring that he wanted a reunion with Irving, it became clear that Westbrook’s feelings were not top of mind for the franchise centerpiece. Everyone knew that an Irving trade with the Nets would have ended Westbrook’s Lakers tenure, with him likely going to a third team because the Nets did not want him, league sources say.

Yet James sent that conspicuously-timed tweet on Friday, sharing the eyes-wide-open emoji and a champion’s crown not long after Irving asked for a trade out of Brooklyn. The following day, when James was asked if Irving would help the Lakers, he made his view more transparently known by deeming it a ‘duh’ question. After Irving was traded to Dallas on Sunday, he told ESPN’s Michael Wilbon that he was “disappointed” the Lakers didn’t land his former running mate. Within the Lakers’ walls, there was some sympathy for the position Westbrook was put in as a result of James’ messaging, and confusion as to why James chose to use his voice in that way.

There were always going to be limitations to the Lakers-Westbrook partnership. Both sides attempted to make adjustments, but neither could provide the other with what they needed. Westbrook wasn’t capable of adjusting without the ball in his hands and embracing role-player duties after 13 years of being a superstar. The Lakers didn’t have the requisite shooting or perimeter defense to embolden him offensively and hide his off-ball defensive errors.

There were glimpses of potential every so often. There were also particularly challenging moments, never more so than in the final week. But when this three-team deal was finally done, with the very real possibility of missing the playoffs a driving force for these underachieving Lakers and more roster moves to come, this harrowing homecoming finally came to an end.

Thanks bro.

 

[reconic supreme]

 

[toneboi76]

Gobert will be the last one standing in Minny

 

[Korofi]

Serge going to LA

 

[essential1]

Gobert will be the last one standing in Minny

Over under 17 months and they trade KAT

Should get a good crop of players for KAT.

But he’ll get traded next.

 

[antidope]

Cam Thomas is crazy. Bro does not pass

 

[elpablo21]

Magic got some quality wins in another lottery year

 

[Coupé It]

This game is ***

 

[freeze]

Damn this hurts. When his voice cracked

 

[king j]

Cam Thomas is crazy. Bro does not pass

I see why Kobe his GOAT,he’s a black hole on offense

 

[Coupé It]

I feel bad for Jacque Vaughn.

At least he’s got a job tho.

 

[cedric ceballos]

I’m curious if the Nets are far enough over .500 to be on some 2011 nuggets after trading Carmelo and still manage to sneak in the the playoffs. They’re 7 up on the last play in spot.

 

[elpablo21]

I feel bad for Jacque Vaughn.

At least he’s got a job tho.

why?

He doesn't coach the Bulls

 

[allergic2broke]

Who starring for the nets when they get everybody ?

 

[703 hwy]

Cam Thomas is crazy. Bro does not pass

He’s been averaging like 30ppg since HS. He tryna get back

 

[freeze]

 

[freeze]

Why they ain't give cam and Mikael better seats

 

[reconic supreme]

bulls are poverty my goodness

 

[elpablo21]

I’m curious if the Nets are far enough over .500 to be on some 2011 nuggets after trading Carmelo and still manage to sneak in the the playoffs. They’re 7 up on the last play in spot.

I think they'll stay afloat. Maybe the Heat jump them

 

[antidope]

Cam Thomas getting MVP chants… poverty

 

[Coupé It]

I think they'll stay afloat. Maybe the Heat jump them

Oh word? The Knicks can’t?

We basically have the same record as the Heat.