3 reasons to be extremely worried about the Los Angeles Lakers

By Jason Reed | Nov 16, 2021

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 08: Anthony Davis #3 and LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers talk after a timeout during a 126-123 Lakers overtime win over the Charlotte Hornets at Staples Center on November 08, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2021 NBAE. /

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(Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

2. Russell Westbrook was brought in to help in times like these and he has been awful

The Russell Westbrook trade was instantly picked apart as Westbrook’s fit on the Lakers appeared to be a bad one. That has been the case this season as Westbrook has not only been bad, he has statistically been one of the worst players in the leauge.

There have been 15 players in the NBA to play 500 minutes thus far this season. Westbrook ranks dead last among those 15 in Box Plus/Minus at -2.6. Of the 86 players to play 400 minutes, Westbrook ranks 75th.

While it never seemed like a great fit, the one area where Westbrook would really seem to help the Lakers is in the regular season. It is no secret that the Lakers want to be as cautious as possible with LeBron James and Westbrook was meant to allow the team to do that.

While they would have to figure out things in the postseason, Westbrook was good enough, in theory, to carry the team to regular-season wins without LeBron James that they otherwise would not have won.

Westbrook should be playing well with LeBron James out and he has been playing awful. He is not doing what the team needed him to do and when LeBron returns it is only going to get worse.

We gave the Lakers the benefit of the doubt in figuring out this fit before the season began, mostly because of the basketball IQ of LeBron James and Anthon Davis. However, after 15 games, it appears that this might not be a fit that ever works as planned and that is a serious problem.

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