Many fans are hoping that the current version of the Los Angeles Lakers is not the team that begins the 2022-23 season. While not much can be done via free agency, there is a massive trade looming over LA’s head that would completely change the dynamic of the team.
That trade is obviously a Kyrie Irving trade. The Brooklyn Nets seem to be imploding and the Lakers, as the only team interesting in Kyrie Irving, is looking to take advantage. This is a perfect way for the Lakers to not only add a star player but get rid of Russell Westbrook.
Westbrook has been a disaster in LA thus far and it is clear that the Lakers are not going to win much as long as he is on the roster. He simply clashes with the dynamic that the team has and has not shown a willingness to change his game.
Not only is Russell Westbrook’s play poor, but he made other Lakers worse last season.
The kind of player that Russ is both in how he demands the basketball and what he can and can’t do as a player has a direct impact on other players on his team. That is why the Lakers were so disappointing last season: Westbrook himself played poorly and made others around him worse as well.
Quite frankly, you could make the case that the entire team would benefit from Westbrook being traded. Kyrie Irving is not a perfect player but he does not have the same problems that Westbrook has.
But when it really boils down to it, there are two players in particular who should be celebrating the most if Westbrook ends up getting dealt for Kyrie.
1. Anthony Davis
Russell Westbrook had such a negative impact on Anthony Davis last season when he was healthy. Granted, Davis missed most of the year with injury but when he was healthy and played with Westbrook it was not pretty.
The Lakers had a serious problem with Westbrook at point guard when it came to floor spacing. Westbrook is a horrible three-point shooter and he is someone who loves to drive to the rim and initiate contact. That does not mesh well when you have Anthony Davis and a traditional center like DeAndre Jordan or Dwight Howard.
Since Westbrook cannot shoot and Jordan and Howard are traditional fives, Davis was the one that was tasked with adding floor spacing to the team. The result was Davis being the worst jump shooter in the league before he got hurt with numbers that were down across the board.
Davis played better when he got healthy as the team stopped using the traditional centers and realized that the only way to maximize Davis with Westbrook was to play small-ball lineups. That being said, Davis and Westbrook still had a -5.4 net rating when on the court together last season.
Kyrie Irving is a significantly better shooter than Russell Westbrook and while he does still like to drive to the rim, the threat of him actually being able to shoot makes the floor spacing exponentially better for Davis and the frontcourt.
2. Talen Horton-Tucker
No, the second player is not LeBron James. As bad as Westbrook was last season, LeBron James was still able to put together a fantastic year in which he almost won the scoring title. Obviously he is better off with Kyrie Irving as his teammate but the difference for him is not as drastic as it is for someone like Talen Horton-Tucker.
Granted, this is assuming that THT is even on the roster when the season begins. THT is the only young trade asset that the Lakers have to offer and he could be included in a Kyrie deal or a different trade for someone else.
If THT is still on the Lakers then he is going to benefit greatly from swapping out Westbrook for Kyrie. Westbrook and THT clashed in the backcourt together last season as neither man could shoot. THT is not an off-ball shooter and with Russ dominating the baskteball so much, he did not get as many chances offensively to showcase his playmaking.
Like Davis, THT had a negative net rating when he shared the court with Westbrook last season. The duo had a -4.7 net rating together, which was the second-worst two-man net rating that THT had last season. He was only worse with Dwight Howard, who he played a third of the minutes with.
Heck, the trio of AD, THT and Westbrook had a -6.1 net rating in 255 minutes together last season. For a team that is supposed to contend that is awful and not the kind of numbers the Lakers are looking for.
Again, having a point guard that can shoot is going to open up the court for THT to drive to the rim more and actually get the basketball in times he wouldn’t last season. Not only that, but Kyrie Irving does not make the same poor decisions on the defensive end that Westbrook does.
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Irving is by no means a good defender, but having someone who knows what his place is defensively and does not try to play hero ball will allow the Lakers to utilize THT’s defensive potential in a better way than they did last season.