The Los Angeles Lakers are only two games into the 2022-23 season and fans are already calling for a Russell Westbrook trade. To be fair, fans were calling for a trade all summer but it took just two ugly games for those requests to be amplified.
Westbrook actually wasn’t half bad in the first game of the year against the Golden State Warriors but his ugly 0-for performance against the Los Angeles Clippers was more than amplified. This roster is not good enough, Westbrook nor the team want this relationship to continue, and fans are sick of seeing it.
Fans have already received a loose timeline on when they can expect a Russell Westbrook trade but even that is far from being a guarantee. It is going to be interesting to see what the team does with Westbrook moving forward and luckily for them as there certainly is one plan that is both realistic and perfect for LA.
The perfect Russell Westbrook plan for the Los Angeles Lakers:
Step 1: Continue to let him flame out for the time being
This step should not last very long, but the Lakers simply have to give Westbrook the runway to flame out and play poorly. This will not only justify the team’s actions but increasingly make it where Westbrook does not want to play for the Lakers anymore, which will help with the next step.
This step should last about 3-4 weeks (8-10 more games) because…
Step 2: Tell Russell Westbrook to go home when Dennis Schroder returns
Dennis Schroder is currently nursing a thumb injury that will keep him out of action for 3-4 weeks. As soon as that is healed up and he is ready to play, the Lakers should tell Russell Westbrook to go home and wait until the team trades him — John Wall style.
It is clear that the Lakers brought Dennis Schroder in to be some kind of Russell Westbrook contingency plan. After all, the team was reportedly waiting to sign Schroder until a Westbrook trade happened, which obviously never did. If that doesn’t say Westbrook contingency plan then I don’t know what does.
Schroder has his problems but it doesn’t make any sense to have him on the roster and stagger his minutes with Westbrook and only play him 15 minutes per game. Instead, Schroder should get Westbrook’s minutes and simply be a less-detrimental version of Russ for the Lakers.
Russ is getting about 30 minutes per game and Schroder can comfortably get those minutes and be more effective than Westbrook has been.
Step 3: Use the next 25 or so games to evaluate
It is at this point that the team should take a step back and see what it really has. Put Schroder in for Westbrook and see how the team plays. They do not need to light the world on fire, but the Lakers need to see what this team looks like without Westbrook, and if the two star players are holding up.
This is an important step and one that might not be the best for fans, but it is the reality of the situation. In these 25 games, the Lakers will decide whether or not it is actually worth it to even trade Westbrook this season.
If the team is playing well and showing signs of having something then they can flip Westbrook for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield or whatever package makes the most sense. However, if the role players are playing terribly and the Lakers continue to plummet even without Russ then it is not worth it.
It is not worth it to trade two future first-round picks and potentially become less cap-flexible next season if this team is bad anyway. Why do all that to go from a play-in exit to a first-round exit? In the long-term picture, it would be a horrible move.
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That is why the Lakers need to tell Westbrook to go home, replace him with Dennis Schroder and see what the team can do from there.