It is pretty obvious that the Los Angeles Lakers are trying desperately to trade Russell Westbrook this summer and Westbrook himself has to know that. It does not matter how much Darvin Ham talks him up to the media, the Lakers are a better team next season without Westbrook on the roster.
Westbrook simply does not play a winning style of basketball. There is a reason why he has only won one playoff series since Kevin Durant left Oklahoma City despite having some of the best teammates in the sport in that span.
Seriously, how do you only win one playoff series when you had the likes of Paul George, James Harden, Bradley Beal, LeBron James and Anthony Davis as teammates? He has always had an All-NBA guy to play next to and has always lowered the ceiling of his team with the way he plays.
The worst part is that Westbrook still thinks he is a top player in the league and has been hesitant to change his game for the betterment of the team. After such a poor season with the Lakers last year, you would think that something clicked for Westbrook. It didn’t. In the end, it is still the Lakers’ fault.
At least, that is what Westbrook is seemingly suggesting with the tweets he is deciding to like.
https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1556838503194841088
This shows exactly why the Los Angeles Lakers must trade Russell Westbrook.
There is a reason why the Lakers are willing to give up future assets to get rid of Westbrook and why no other team in the league really wants him. It is for this reason right here. Westbrook has seemingly always cared more about his individual stats than winning basketball and when things go wrong, he has not been shy at pointing the finger.
Westbrook demolished Frank Vogel in his exit interview after the 2021-22 season. And while Vogel was not perfect, a lot of the issues with the Lakers were not his fault. Instead of taking accountability, Westbrook pointed the finger at someone else.
Cool, Westbrook had a “good” last 10 games. First of all, those games meant absolutely nothing as the Lakers were essentially already out of the playoff hunt. Second of all, the stats are telling a misleading story, which has been the story of Westbrook’s career.
If you just looked at the box scores you would think Russ is still an extremely valuable player. Anyone that actually watches Los Angeles Lakers basketball knows that is not the case. He can’t shoot, is a ball vacuum that kills offensive rhythm, and makes too many defensive mistakes to justify.
3 early in-season buyout targets for the Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers need any help they can get this season and thus, the team should already be preparing for potential buyout targets.
Yet he still thinks that this is the team’s fault, not his. That mindset is obviously not changing, which is why it is better for both sides if they just moved on.