The Lakers must trade Russell Westbrook to the Rockets before tomorrow’s trade deadline or risk suffering a devastating season where fans are booing, players are quitting, and the storied franchise is inundated with dysfunction.
Last night’s embarrassing and humiliating loss to the champion Milwaukee Bucks was hopefully the last straw as the once proud Los Angeles Lakers were crushed by Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kris Middleton, and a superior roster. LeBron James admitted in the post-game press conference the Lakers were not at the same level as the Bucks and sources confirmed the Lakers as a team no longer think they can win with Russell Westbrook as their third star.
Fortunately, it’s become obvious Russell Westbrook is a bad fit with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Lakers needed a third star whom they could rely upon to complement their two superstars with shooting and defense. The Lakers third star has turned out to be 24-year old Malik Monk, whom the Lakers signed to a 1-year veteran’s minimum contract but who has not become the third star they had hoped Russell Westbrook would become.
The big question, of course, is whether the Lakers will address the Russell Westbrook situation at the trade deadline or wait until summer to resolve it. Before last night’s game, the thought was the Lakers were likely to wait. Watching Los Angeles rally without Russ in the fourth quarter to turn a 30-point rout into a 10-point game, however, may have added pressure for Rob Pelinka to pull the plug on the Westbrook experiment now rather than wait.
So let’s look at some of the reasons why it makes sense for the Lakers to trade Russ now rather than waiting for this summer when his $47 million player option for next season will become a more attractive expiring contract.
1. Trading Russ now is only way Lakers win championship this season
The undeniable truth of this version of the Los Angeles Lakers has always been that they are legitimate championship contenders as long as they have a healthy and rested LeBron James and Anthony Davis playing at their peaks.
Unfortunately, every truth has its limit and the Lakers have now come to the conclusion that they cannot win a championship with Russell Westbrook as the third star. The question is when should the Lakers cut the cord with Russ? There’s a contingent in the Lakers’ front office that is willing to write off the rest of this season in the belief that they will be in a better position to resolve the Westbrook conundrum more favorably this summer than at the deadline.
Standing pat for the rest of this season should be a non-starter for anybody in the Lakers’ front office, not with 37-year old LeBron James championship window getting smaller each year and he and Anthony Davis playing great. Knowing they can’t win with Russ, the Lakers must then make the immediate moves to trade Russ to the Rockets, even if it costs them their 2027 first round
The only way the Lakers have a chance to win their 18th NBA championship this season is by ending the Russell Westbrook experiment right now and giving LeBron and AD a longshot opportunity to win another championship.
2. Not trading Russ now could ultimately lead to Lakers losing Monk
As we approach tomorrow’s trade deadline, the Lakers are in a tough situation with too many roster holes to fill and too few trading chips to fix everything. Trading Russ right now would put the Lakers in better position this summer.
The one blazing bright light in the darkness right now is the rise of Malik Monk, who’s been everything the Lakers had hoped for when trading for Russell Westbrook but from a 24-year old on a veteran’s minimum contract. Monk is immensely grateful for the Lakers signing him last summer when other teams had little interest and has not only fought his way into the starting lineup but also established himself as the team’s 3rd best player.
While Monk has become the third star the Lakers wanted, they don’t have his Bird or Early Bird rights and will be limited to offering him the $6.2 million taxpayer mid level exception this summer, which may be less than his value. There will likely be teams offering Monk the full non-taxpayer $10.1 million mid level exception. The Lakers will probably be able to keep Monk if they have a successful run the rest of the season and Monk may be willing to stay.
The worst outcome for the Lakers would be Westbrook staying and the Lakers continuing to be a losing team. The Lakers need to continue winning to ensure Malik Monk will wants to re-sign this summer rather than testing free agency.
3. Not trading Russ now could ultimately lead to LeBron leaving Lakers
The last thing the Lakers want is for LeBron James to ever consider leaving. Watching James’ body language last night, especially when Russ came over to console him and Anthony on the bench late in the game, was concerning.
If the Lakers stand pat at the trade deadline, they’ll have essentially wasted two of LeBron’s remaining few seasons without winning a championship. That could possibly mean that next season might be LeBron’s last as an L.A. Laker. Listening to LeBron say there was no way for the Lakers to get to the level of the current champion Milwaukee Bucks is not the kind of statements that give ownership any confidence LeBron is going to re-sign with the Los Angeles.
The Laker didn’t sign LeBron James nor did James sign with the Lakers just to win one championship. Nor is LeBron blameless as it was dinner at his house with Russ and Anthony that set the stage for the Lakers trading for Westbrook. LeBron and the Lakers expect James to finish his career in purple and gold, even if that means L.A. will ultimately have to draft Bronny James in the 2024 NBA draft. Keeping Russ could allow his dysfunction to derail the season.
The problem with keeping Russell Westbrook the rest of this season is the team is likely to continue to struggle to win, there’s going to be problems between Vogel and Westbrook, angry fans are going to boo and blame Russ. The truth is trading for Russ was a major mistake and the Lakers need to rectify the situation as soon as possible. They cannot afford for Westbrook, if kept for the rest of the season, to become a cancer that infects LeBron James.
The Lakers are at what could be a major franchise inflection point that could derail their relationship with LeBron and Klutch Sports at a point. Keeping Russell Westbrook for the rest of this season could be risking LeBron James.
https://twitter.com/LakerTom/status/1491518821831634946
I feel like that should, and probably will barring an incredible gelling process, happen over the summer. Mid-season deals are harder to pull off the bigger the deal. Since we’re essentially limited to trading with Houston right now and that’s a rip off of a trade it shouldn’t happen now. You never want to sell low and the optics of Houston buying out Russ and for him to, if the rumors are true, turns around and joins Washington Rob will look like a real joke of a GM. Of course, if you ask me, he hit that benchmark this summer when Caruso walked for nothing. Not even a trade exception which could have come in handy right about now.
Everyone has made their beds. Jeannie, Rob, Frank, LeBron and so on. Best that they lay in them now and maybe learn something from this fiasco of a debacle. But a bad trade, which is definitely the deal on the table for John Wall, is just doubling down on dumb. No thanks.
I completely agree with you, Jamie. At this point, whoever the cap fits let them wear it and call the season a colossal failure.