The Los Angeles Lakers made the biggest and the boldest move of the offseason by trading Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell and the 22nd pick in the 2021 NBA Draft for Russell Westbrook.
While the players that the Lakers traded away were definitely replaceable, making the move for Westbrook was an interesting one. Westbrook has one of the worst contracts in the league and the style fit alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis was questioned.
The Lakers have not gotten off to a great start, beginning with a 1-2 record and did not win a single game in the preseason. This is a team that is dealing with injuries and is still trying to figure out its identity and Westbrook is a big component in that.
Westbrook’s start has not been great. Thus far, the former MVP is averaging 12.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game. Sure, he is almost averaging a triple-double, but he is shooting 34.9% from the field and is playing shoddy defense.
His PER this season is 6.6, which spoiler alert, is awful. His Box Plus/Minus is a cool -9.1 and his Value Over Replacement Player is actually -0.2! All great numbers.
Those are not the most concerning Russell Westbrook statistics for the Los Angeles Lakers.
While those are all awful and help paint a picture of just how bad Russell Westbrook has been for the Los Angeles Lakers, there is one advanced statistic that takes the cake. If we needed just one number to point to, this would be the one.
The advanced statistic we are looking at is the Total Points Added (TPA) statistic, courtesy of NBA Math. TPS is the combination of Offensive Points Added (OPA) and Defensive Points Saved (DPS) and is a pretty consistent advanced statistic that helps separate the great from the good.
For example, the top-five players in the league in TPS this season:
- Kevin Durant (34.23)
- Paul George (25.75)
- Nikola Jokic (20.73)
- Jimmy Butler (20.57)
- Karl Anthony-Towns (19.75)
Those are not the five best players in the league in terms of overall talent but all five of those guys are All-NBA players and have enjoyed hot starts to the 2021 campaign.
So where does Russell Westbrook rank in TPA? Here’s a hint: his TPA this season is -21.10. Can you guess where that ranks among players with at least 60 minutes played so far this season? If you guessed the fourth-worst in the entire league, you win a prize (the prize is not being as sad about how bad Westbrook has been)!
There are 188 players in the NBA that have played at least 60 minutes thus far this season. Westbrook ranks 185/188th. He has been that bad. Here are the bottom five, in order from worst to best.
- Jalen Suggs (-25.29)
- Frank Jackson (-22.25)
- Joe Harris (-22.05)
- Russell Westbrook (-21.10)
- Marcus Smart (-20.67)
There are some other good players on this list, such as Joe Harris and Marcus Smart, as well as the fifth-overall pick in Jalen Suggs. Those players have also enjoyed a bad start to the 2021-22 season, just as Westbrook has.
Does this mean that Westbrook is guaranteed to keep playing this way? Not at all. But this feels like more than just a slow start. There were already huge question marks around his fit on the Los Angeles Lakers. And while I was hopeful that it would work out, perhaps my optimism was off-base.
The Los Angeles Lakers do not need Russell Westbrook to be one of the top players in the league. They do need him to not be one of the five worst players in the league, though.