Lakers’ losing streak proves why a Russell Westbrook trade is pointless

The Los Angeles Lakers were finally starting to pick up some momentum this season and had every fan feeling optimistic about the direction the team was heading. Los Angeles won eight out of 10 games behind herculean performances from Anthony Davis to crawl to a more respectable record.

The wheels have started to fall off a bit here in recent games, though. Los Angeles has lost three games in a row and finds itself with a 10-15 record, good enough for 13th in the Western Conference. The standings are still clumped, so the Lakers aren’t too far behind, but it showcases the sad reality with this basketball team.

Winning eight out of 10 was great but fans should have realized that the Lakers had an extremely easy stretch of games in that 10 that led to the wins. Also, Anthony Davis playing at that high of a level all season is not sustainable. That is not even a knock on Davis but when you need him to play historically to win basketball games, your team probably is not the best.

This stretch proves why a Russell Westbrook trade is pointless for the Lakers.

There is a large contingent of the fanbase that is still holding onto a Russell Westbrook trade and the potential that the team has if they were to make it. Even with Westbrook playing well, there is no doubt that trading him for the right package could improve the team drastically.

For Los Angeles, that right package is for an all-star in return. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the odds of Los Angeles landing a legitimate all-star in a salary-dump trade for Russell Westbrook is slim to none. Gordon Hayward is probably the best “all-star” the team can get and he is not that anymore.

So the Lakers would likely have to settle on a package like Myles Turner and Buddy Hield or whatever else works itself out in the market. However, making that kind of trade is completely pointless as the Lakers simply are not good enough to make that trade. This losing streak proves that.

Those pounding the table for a Westbrook trade are missing the bigger picture of the franchise. Los Angeles would be trading two of the most valuable trade assets in the league so they could slightly elevate the team. Congrats! The Lakers would go from the 13th-best team in the West to the eighth-best team.

This team is not good enough to justify a Westbrook trade because even if they made it, they are not true contenders. Their ceiling would be one, maybe two, playoff series wins. Then when they get bounced from the playoffs all the same fans pounding the table to trade Westbrook will be complaining that the Lakers traded away valuable assets for nothing.

This was a fork-in-the-road moment for the team and it started on a great note with a win over the Milwaukee Bucks. If Los Angeles could stay afloat during this tough stretch of games they could have proven that they are good enough to make a Westbrook trade and contend in the West.

But unfortunately, they have proven the opposite. This team simply is not good enough and that shows when they play good basketball teams. Instead, the Lakers are better off making a smaller trade that does not include Westbrook and go from there.

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