The Los Angeles Lakers were unable to trade Russell Westbrook before the 2022-23 season despite seriously considering making a trade with the Indiana Pacers. Even with as poorly as he played last season, it appears that some fans are starting to look at the glass-half-full once more, falling for the same trap they fell for last year.
Westbrook was pitched as this great regular-season addition that would take the workload off of LeBron James and make the Lakers better as a result. Instead, his poor fit and restricting contract were the catalyst for the most disappointing season in Lakers history.
Now, after some press conferences, training camp clips and a half-decent preseason game, it appears that some fans are starting to buy in on Westbrook again. All is going to be fixed with Darvin Ham in town, right?
Well, not necessarily. While Westbrook had some half-decent moments on the court in his preseason debut, he also showcased in spurts that he is the same player he always has been. This painfully lethargic defensive showing from him on one possession is telling. You can catch the entire clip here, or the tail-end of it on the video below. Don’t worry, we will break it down regardless.
Breaking down this lethargic Russell Westbrook sequence to optimistic Lakers fans:
First, it starts with Westbrook defending Kevin Huerter at the perimeter. Huerter passes the ball and it gets swung to the corner, where Harrison Barnes starts to drive. During this, Westbrook plants his feet in some cement, starts watching the action like he bought a ticket, and Hueter cuts to the rim behind him.
Westbrook realizes he was caught watching and sprints in to defend, getting saved by a Huerter bobble that stopped an easy lay-up. Huerter then passes it out to De’Aaron Fox and instead of at least attempting a close-out, Westbrook literally stands still and lets Fox shoot a wide-open three.
Fox bricks the three and the rebounds heads straight towards Westbrook. However, since he was seemingly uninterested, he was late to jump for the rebound, allowing Huerter to snag the offensive board. Huerter then kicks it out to Fox, who drives correctly at Westbrook.
Fox does a rather simple Eurostep, which you can see in the clip above, and sends Westbrook packing to the other end of the floor. These are the kind of defensive possessions that Westbrook has, and quite frankly, this wasn’t the only one like this in the game.
Some may say it is just the preseason and of course, he is not going to give 100%. Fans can give that benefit of the doubt to someone like LeBron James who has earned it. Westbrook has not earned it in the slightest. This is exactly the kind of thing we saw time and time again last season out of the former MVP.
Darvin Ham can stress defense all he wants and Westbrook can keep telling the fans exactly what they want to hear. Until he actually proves that he is going to be different, fans have to expect more of this out of him.
New Lakers role player is already committing long-term to LA
The Los Angeles Lakers have had a lot of roster turnover in recent years but this new role player is already committing to LA long-term.
And if that is the case, Russell Westbrook won’t be on the Lakers for long.