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NBA insider provides Lakers fans hope about Russell Westbrook

By Jason Reed

PARIS, FRANCE - JUNE 23: Russell Westbrook wears a black cap, a silver pearls necklace, a black with white print pattern t-shirt, a blue and gray watch, a diamonds rings, white with embroidered black pattern denim jeans pants, outside the Amiri show, during Paris Fashion Week - Menswear Spring/Summer 2023, on June 23, 2022 in Paris, France. (Photo by Edward Berthelot/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - JUNE 23: Russell Westbrook wears a black cap, a silver pearls necklace, a black with white print pattern t-shirt, a blue and gray watch, a diamonds rings, white with embroidered black pattern denim jeans pants, outside the Amiri show, during Paris Fashion Week - Menswear Spring/Summer 2023, on June 23, 2022 in Paris, France. (Photo by Edward Berthelot/Getty Images) /
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The 2022-23 season is getting closer and with every passing day that the Los Angeles Lakers don’t trade Russell Westbrook the more and more likely it becomes that he starts the season as a member of the roster.

Los Angeles had a workout on Tuesday that included both Patrick Beverley and Russell Westbrook. The two players embraced and even shared a moment where Russ “dimed” a towel to Beverley during his interviews. Despite all the bad blood in the past, it appears that the two have squashed things for this season.

That is a bad sign for the Lakers. While the front office could be working hard behind the scenes, everything that we have seen indicates that the team is preparing to bring Westbrook back. While there are Westbrook fans who are rooting for this reality, the fact of the matter is that it will hold the Lakers back.

Thankfully, long-time NBA insider David Aldridge has provided at least some hope, emphatically claiming that Westbrook will start the season on another team’s roster, whether it be via trade or via a buyout.

The clock is ticking. If the Lakers are going to indeed make a move for Westbrook they better make it soon.

There definitely are trade options out there for the Los Angeles Lakers.

While Westbrook is a negative asset and is hard to move, there definitely are trade packages out there for the Lakers. There is an assortment of trades the Lakers can make with the Utah Jazz as well as the possibility of the Indiana Pacers deal still being on the table.

This all comes down to what the team is willing to send out via trade and if the front office convinces itself that Westbrook can change or they can move him at the deadline it is silly. A lot of things can change and the same offers now might not be available in February.

It is probably unlikely that the Lakers would buy Westbrook out simply because they would want to hold onto his contract to move him at the deadline. But if Westbrook is still on the roster it would not be a bad thing to John Wall him and simply tell him to go home.

Anyone who watched the Lakers last season knows that Westbrook actively made the team worse when he was on the court. There is a reason why the Lakers want to get rid of him and want to send assets with him to make that happen. Let’s not forget about that.

Hopefully, Aldridge is correct about Westbrook’s future because if not, the ceiling of the team this upcoming season is extremely low.

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