NBA insider warns that the Lakers might be punting this season away
By Jason Reed
We are just over a month away from the Los Angeles Lakers being back in action and there does not seem to be much excitement among the fanbase. Most fans are waiting for a Russell Westbrook trade to happen, which seems less and less likely by the day.
Los Angeles is coming off the most disappointing season in franchise history and the front office has not done enough to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. The only way to flip the narrative heading into the 2022-23 season is to deal Westbrook.
However, the Lakers have seemingly been stubborn in the Westbrook trade market despite being the team with the bad asset. Many fans have given up on the idea of the Lakers trading Westbrook, and comments from NBA insider Brian Windhorst only hammer home that belief.
Windhorst’s latest comments on the ‘Hoop Collective’ podcast seem to indicate that the Lakers are preparing to keep Westbrook in the fold, and thus, are punting on the 2022-23 season.
“I don’t think the Lakers think there’s a Westbrook trade, even with their picks, that elevates them. The feel within the league is they’ll try to make the best of what they have.”
— Hub (@KenHeLive) September 8, 2022
-Brian Windhorst
Just enjoy football season, Laker Nation. They’re punting.
The Los Angeles Lakers are not winning anything if the team doesn’t trade Russell Westbrook.
This sounds like a broken record at this point but fans have to prepare for another letdown this season if the Lakers are unable to trade Russell Westbrook. Things aren’t going to suddenly change from what they were a year ago as Westbrook has never changed who he is as a player.
There are several issues with the Lakers roster if Westbrook stays in LA and those issues are going to hold the team back. Los Angeles will spin the narrative that they didn’t get to see their team fully healthy last year and that is why this year will be different.
Yes, the Lakers will be better than last year if LeBron James and Anthony Davis play most of the games. However, expecting these two to play most of these games, at this point, is wishful thinking. And even those improvements aren’t going to be huge.
Sure, the team can be better but we still are not talking about a contender in the tough Western Conference. The Lakers might end up going from the 11th seed to the eighth seed, only to lose in the first round of the playoffs. But at least it is an improvement!
Fans just have to hope that the team is trying to leverage the situation to not seem desperate to make a deal happen. If this is truly how the team feels then we are in for another bumpy ride.