Los Angeles Lakers fans are preparing for another season of Russell Westbrook and based on how the last season went, expectations are not very high for the team in the 2022-23 season. The Lakers likely won’t trade Westbrook before the season begins as the team tries to fix the problem that they could not solve last season.
At least this season there is a new brain that can try and solve this problem in Darvin Ham. However, Ham already has some ludicrous lineup ideas with Westbrook that really don’t seem like they are going to work out.
Every year whatever fanbase has Russ convinces itself that this new situation or a new head coach will finally be the one to crack down and get the former MVP to play winning basketball. Every year fans are disappointed as Westbrook has won just one playoff series since Kevin Durant left Oklahoma City.
That is not stopping the Lakers from spinning this as a positive as the team seemingly has a role in mind for Westbrook that they think can best maximize him this season. The only problem is that this role makes absolutely no sense.
The Los Angeles Lakers want Russell Westbrook to play a Draymond Green/Bruce Brown role for the team.
From Jake Fischer:
— ًً (@thinkingfern) September 9, 2022
- Lakers don't want to take on long term salary
- Kyrie will be at the top of their list next summer
- Lakers won't send Russ home, want him to play Bruce Brown/Draymond role
- Pacers want to keep Turner
- Lakers haven't offered 2029 1st
This was among the many things that Jake Fischer touched on in the ‘Please Don’t Aggregate This‘ (I love the meta name) podcast. Draymond Green is one of the most successful players in the league in executing a certain role that elevates his strengths and hides his faults. Bruce Brown is a solid role player who is the perfect player mold for a contending team.
Sounds like a great plan, right? Well, yeah, on paper. Of course, any fan would take it in a heartbeat if Westbrook was able to be this team’s Draymond Green, allowing LeBron James and Anthony Davis to do most of the offensive cooking.
There is just one problem: Russell Westbrook can’t defend! It is disrespectful to Draymond for the Lakers to insinuate the idea that Westbrook could be their version of him. Draymond is one of the best defenders and glue guys in the entire league. Westbrook, meanwhile, makes more defensive mistakes than any other star in the league and has been the opposite of a glue guy.
Plus, Draymond has fit nicely into a smaller offense role for the Warriors and that is why the team has been so successful with him. That would never fly with Westbrook. Draymond has never had a usage rate higher than 18.8% in his NBA career. Westbrook has never had a lower usage rate than 25% in his career.
Last season Westbrook’s usage rate fell to 27.3% and even that did not go over well with the former MVP, who decided to go scorched earth in his exit interview and essentially blame everything else but himself.
3 Lakers who should be outraged if Russell Westbrook isn’t traded
The Los Angeles Lakers seem to have accepted the reality that Russell Westbrook will return to the team. These 3 players should be outraged by that.
If the Lakers genuinely believe that they can have Russell Westbrook play a Draymond Green-type role for them next season then they are the most delusional team in the entire sport.