Russell Westbrook: 20th
“The Brodie” is undeniably one of the hardest if not the hardest player to slot in league-wide rankings due to the unprecedented nature of his game and history. In a vacuum, in terms of his production, will, fearlessness, ability and athleticism, some nights he looks and plays like a bonafide top ten player despite his glaring shortcomings.
However, due to the fact he’s been one of the last if not the last superstar you’d want to build your championship aspiring team around for many years, you can’t justify putting him over some of these other stable franchise cornerstones around the league. Too many late-game disasters and inexcusably poor decision making in waning moments of huge playoff games to trust him to lead the show for you.
Luckily for Laker fans, Russell Westbrook has LeBron and AD to lean on, as he’ll be the third wheel on a team for the first time in his career. Although it’s hard to envision, I imagine LeBron reserving himself by playing off the ball a lot and letting Westbrook run the show. The flip side could be disastrous as Westbrook is little to no threat on the catch-and-shoot and a poor fit as an off-ball guard.
His greatest help to the Lakers will be giving LeBron rest time, not having to exert as much energy throughout the regular season which is huge for him going on age 37. Meanwhile, the dynamic Westbrook has no problem taking the boatload of usage and playmaking as one of the best effort and energy guys in the league. He’ll make the Lakers play a lot faster and be more of a threat in the transition game than last year as well.
The spacing and fit concerns between these guys are valid. Still in all, these three healthy and at their best will be impossible to slow down and make the Los Angeles Lakers the clear conference favorite in an uncertain west.