Russell Westbrook

What the critics of the Westbrook trade miss when they focus on why Russ’ poor shooting isn’t a good fit for the Lakers is how his dominant presence at point guard has a domino effect that unleashes the team’s best lineup.

There’s never been any question the Lakers best lineup was with LeBron James at the four and Anthony Davis at the five but AD’s preference to play the four to avoid injuries and extend his career limited the lineup’s usage. During the championship season, Davis played center 40% in the regular season and 60% in the playoffs. This past season, the Lakers reduced his center minutes to 10% in the regular season and 20% in the playoffs.

It was like the Lakers forgot all about the lethal small ball lineup with LeBron at the four and AD at the five that destroyed playoff opponents last year in the bubble and allowed L.A. to take home their 17th NBA championship. But the sudden opportunity to trade for a future HOF point guard in Russell Westbrook may have finally forced the Lakers to do what fans have been calling for two years: play LeBron at the four and Anthony Davis at the five.

Ideally, the Lakers should start LeBron James at the four and Anthony Davis at the five. That’s the lineup Russ, LeBron, and Anthony discussed when they met two weeks before free agency to talk about possibly playing together. The early signs support Davis starting at the five or at least playing major minutes at the five since the Lakers only have two centers on the roster right now and there is no talk about them pursuing anybody as a third center.

There’s also the issue of the Lakers’ starting lineup needing volume 3-point shooters to prevent teams from clogging the paint to force LA to shoot from outside. Lack of 3-point shooting is a problem adding Russ has not helped. With three superstar starters who are not elite 3-point threats, the Lakers’ other two starters must be high volume, high percentage 3-point shooters and neither center — Marc Gasol or Dwight Howard — meet that criteria.

Being able to move LeBron James off the ball to the four, the logical position for him to play to as he finishes his career, and Anthony Davis to the five, his ideal position, was the biggest benefit of trading for Russell Westbrook. While AD has said he would play the five if needed and frankly proved it by playing center 60% of the time to win the bubble championship, he has obviously embraced Russ coming to the Lakers and him moving to the five.

What the Westbrook trade critics miss completely is that impact on the Lakers of Russ attacking the rim and throwing lobs to LeBron and AD or kickouts to the volume 3-point shooters Rob Pelinka added this offseason. The Lakers didn’t just add an elite point guard. They added a third superstar who allowed them to re-align their lineups and rotations, optimize their superstars, and prioritize playing their championship version of small ball.

The trade for Westbrook was made for a multitude of reasons, including being able to move LeBron and AD to the four and five. That’s why Anthony Davis at the five is the missing piece to the Lakers’ championship puzzle.

After flirting with the idea of ‘running it back’ with a healthier team, the Los Angeles Lakers changed course and opted instead to embark on an extreme makeover to change the role and reduce the workload for LeBron James.

In a bold shoot-for-the-moon move, the Lakers traded for enigmatic point guard Russell Westbrook to replace LeBron James as the team’s primary playmaker so James and Davis could move to power forward and center. The Lakers then proceeded to turnover their entire roster from last year, keeping only 21-year old Talen Horton-Tucker, whom they re-signed for 3-years and $32 million, and Marc Gasol, who still may be traded or waived.

So why such an extreme makeover for a team many thought would have repeated as champs had James and Davis not been injured? After all, Rob Pelinka had stated the Lakers hoped to keep the core of the team together. The answer it turns out is the core of the team consisted only of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Talen Horton-Tucker. Marc Gasol remained on the roster only because the Lakers’ efforts to trade him were unsuccessful.

The dramatic moves the Lakers have made so far confirm they’re committed to doing everything they can to reduce excessive wear-and-tear on LeBron James, extend his playing career, and optimize his championship window.

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LAKERS’ MOVES ARE ALL ABOUT LEBRON?

It’s ironic the early focus was more on the future health and prospects of Anthony Davis than LeBron James but the decision to trade for Westbrook instead of Hield quickly showed the Lakers’ concern was LeBron’s health.

Generational players like LeBron are so important to winning that nothing brings back greater returns than optimizing what they can do. That’s what this offseason was all about for Rob Pelinka and the Los Angeles Lakers. Trading for an elite point guard like Russell Westbrook was not just an opportunity for the Lakers to add a third legitimate superstar but a chance to reduce LeBron’s workload to free him up to play off the ball in the post.

While it may seem crazy to think about taking the ball out of LeBron’s hands, that just might be the smartest thing for the Lakers to do, especially with an exceptional point guard like Russell Westbrook who excels at playmaking. Russ is what changes the dynamic and gives the Lakers the luxury of playing LeBron off the ball and closer to the rim. The move is part of a strategy to make life easier for LeBron and the Lakers’ offense more difficult to defend.

Moving James and Davis to the four and five allows the Lakers to play two elite 3-point shooters at the two and three to give Westbrook two of the best finishers in the league to pass to in LeBron and AD when he attacks the rim. Expect to see a steady diet of post ups going forward as that was one of the most potent parts of LeBron’s offensive arsenal. The goal this season is for LeBron and AD to score in the paint and let the shooters rain the threes.

After being injured in two of the last three seasons, it’s time to reduce the 36-year old James’ workload. Moving him to the four to unleash his ability to be more of a big time scorer rather than playmaker is a smart move.

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WHY TURNOVER THE ENTIRE ROSTER?

The biggest surprise was the Lakers’ decision to turnover the entire roster, trading or allowing to leave in free agency multiple rotation players who were major contributors to the team winning the bubble championship.

The Lakers traded Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Montrezl Harrell, Kyle Kuzma, and their first round draft pick to the Wizards for Russell Westbrook and then allowed Alex Caruso and Dennis Scroder to leave in free agency. They also opted to not bring back Markieff Morris, Wesley Matthews, Andre Drummond, or Jared Dudley, although they still have three open roster spots so there’s still a chance one or more those slots could go to returnees.

While Russell Westbrook filled the Lakers’ need for an elite playmaker to free LeBron from being the facilitator, none of the players from last season’s roster took or made enough threes to solve the LA’s 3-point shooting woes. Fortunately, this free agency class was strong in high volume, high percentage 3-point shooters and the Lakers were able to add shooters like Wayne Ellington, Malik Monk, Kendrick Nunn, and Carmelo Anthony.

In the end, the Lakers decided they needed more playmaking and shooting to compete with the Brooklyn Nets than the roster that had won the bubble championship could provide them so they opted for an extreme makeover.

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WHAT REMAINS FOR LAKERS TO DO?

The Lakers are essentially done building the roster they will roll out once the 2021–22 NBA season starts in October. All that remains is deciding whom to sign for the three remaining available minimum salary roster spots.

Major decisions remain as to who is going to start alongside LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook and whether the Lakers are going to go small with AD at the five or more traditional with Gasol playing center. The hope is the Lakers have finally embraced the small ball lineup with LeBron at the four and AD at the five that carried them to the championship in the bubble. Russ’ shooting woes almost demand the Lakers go small.

Other decisions involve how to use the new Superstar Big Three of James, Davis, and Westbrook. Obviously, you want to start and close with all three but maybe you want to stagger them to have two on the floor ast all times. Unless the Lakers sign a ackup point guard, we might see Vogel stagger LeBron and Russ to have an elite playmaker on the floor at all times. Then there’s always the issue of how to make sure there are enough shooters.

Bottom line, the Lakers have undergone an extreme makeover by trading for Westbrook, signing a host of quality high volume 3-point shooters, and moving LeBron James to the four and Anthony Davis to the five.

That’s unfortunately what peoole think about Russell Westbrook. That the issue is more about the Lakers making him a winner than him making the Lakers a winner. This for one of the best point guards to ever play the game.

One thing for sure is Russ doesn’t give a damn about what people think. Like Chris Paul, he’s been written off as a mercurial superstar who’s style of play doesn’t work well within a team game and doesn’t translate into winning. Labeling Russ a loser is the ultimate disrespect, especially when you consider he averaged a triple-double four of the last five years and led his team to a successful winning record in nine of his eleven NBA seasons.

So what gives? Are the critics and pundits right that Russ is a poor fit for what the Lakers need? What does he have to change in his game for the Lakers to win a championship? Can the Lakers make Westbrook a winner?

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WHY ARE CRITICS AND HATERS SO DOWN ON RUSS?

I wonder if the trade for Westbrook would have met with the same negative media and fan response had the Lakers had not been publicly on the verge of pulling off a trade for Buddy Hield, who was the perfect fit for the Lakers.

That the Lakers changed course at the last minute and traded for Russ instead of Hield has been the lead story as analysts evaluated the team’s roster moves and questioned whether Buddy would have been a better fit. There’s no question Hield’s high volume, high percentage 3-point shooting would have been a perfect fit on the Lakers but that doesn’t give critics the right to ignore Russ’ potential contributions as a legitimate third superstar.

Westbrook not only is a poor midrange and 3-point shooter but his presence on the court eliminates point guard as a position to create spacing for LeBron and AD, leaving the Lakers with only two positions for shooters. Rather than waste one of those positions on Gasol or Howard, the Lakers superstars proposed that LeBron move to the four and AD to the five so the Lakers could then use the two and three spots for volume 3-point shooters.

Russ at the point unquestionably makes it harder for the Lakers to put shooters on the court but that doesn’t mean they can’t figure it out. After all, Russell Westbrook gives the Lakers a legitimate Superstar Big Three.

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WHAT DOES RUSS HAVE TO DO FOR LAKERS TO WIN?

The Lakers have always been a franchise that thinks big and shoots for the moon so it’s no surprise they opted to gamble on a home run in the form of Russell Westbrook over a solid extra base hit in the form of Buddy Hield.

So how do the Lakers transform their gamble on Westbrook into a win? It all starts with the private meeting Russ had with LeBron and AD at LeBron’s home a couple of weeks before free agency. That meeting ignited the trade. During that meeting, Westbrook told James and Davis he would play whatever role they wanted him to play while LeBron and AD suppsedly said they would be willing to move to the four and five to accomodate Russ.

What do the Lakers need from Westbrook? First, they need his superstar playmaking and attack dog mentality as a point guard to allow James to move to the four and play off the ball to save energy and reduce workload. Second, they need Russ to become a pass first point guard other than when attacking the rim. Russ’ job will be to run the offense and create easy shots for teammates, whether LeBron or AD attacking the rim or 3-point shooters.

Westbrook is so talented that he should be able to continue to average a triple- double as a pass first point guard on the Lakers. If he can average 10 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds per game, the Lakers will be champs.

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Russ, LeBron, and AD agreeing to play small ball was the trigger that made the Westbrook trade make sense and the biggest strategic change since the Lakers completed the mega trade with the Pels for Davis two years ago.

After two years of accomodating AD’s preference to play the four, the Lakers finally received approval to move Anthony to the five to open up both the shooting guard and small forward positions for needed 3-point shooters. Finally, the Lakers will play their two superstars at their best positions and start games with their best lineup. That change combined with the addition of Russell Westbrook should unleash LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

If Russ is serious about adapting his game to what LeBron and AD need, expect the Lakers to make him a winner and the team to enjoy their best season since LeBron James and Anthony Davis put on purple and gold.