By now the Lakers have to know the team as currently constructed is not capable of winning many games and the longer they wait to trade Russell Westbrook, the deeper the hole out of which they’ll have to dig their way.
The league-worst 1–5 preseason record and the humiliating 47-point loss to the Sacramento Kings showcased everything wrong with the current roster and why the Lakers need to trade Russell Westbrook as soon as possible. Waiting could quickly kill any chance Lakers have of making the playoffs. Without a trade, the current Lakers team could easily be 5–15 by November 30, 7–20 by December 15, and 11–32 by the February 9th trade deadline.
Those are devastating starts that would likely doom LeBron James and the Lakers to missing the playoffs for a second straight season no matter for whom they were eventually able to trade Russell Westbrook and their picks. Trying to recover from a terrible start is exactly the kind of pressure the Lakers do not need to pile on rookie head coach Darvin Ham’s shoulders. The Lakers need to realize time is their enemy and not friend right now.
The Lakers must trade Westbrook as soon as possible or risk getting off to a slow start from which they won’t have time to recover. Time to make major changes in personnel is right now, while there’s still time changes to work.
The Big Question Is What Do the Lakers Really Want To Do?
The good news is the Lakers are apparently now ready to resume the Russ trade negotiations put on hold during training camp. Now that camp’s over, the Lakers will restart their pursuit of an acceptable Westbrook trade.
Training camp gave the Lakers the opportunity to evaluate their current roster and see if rookie head coach Darvin Ham could figure out how to make Russell Westbrook work with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Unfortunately, what training camp revealed is an unbalanced Lakers roster with too many guards and not enough wings that desperately needs size and shooting that can only be acquired by trading Russell Westbrook.
Besides confirming the team as currently constructed can’t win enough games to make the playoffs, the Lakers could also not help but seeing that Turner and Hield would go a long way towards solving the roster woes.
The Lakers desperately need a legitimate starting stretch five center like Myles Turner to keep Davis at the four and James at the five and a proven starting volume 3-point shooter like Buddy Hield to create floor spacing.
There should be no question in the minds of the Lakers front office brain trust that the Lakers need to trade Russell Westbrook and their two first round draft picks for Myles Turner and Buddy Hield as soon as possible.
What Are the Lakers’ Other Russell Westbrook Options?
While it’s hard to imagine a Westbrook trade that’s a better fit for what they need than Turner and Hield, the Lakers do have other options, including letting Russ’ contract expire or trading him for just one first round pick.
In a perfect world, the Lakers would wait and see what opportunities arise before trading Westbrook. Even if a better trade didn’t appear, the Lakers would have over $35 million in cap space if they let Russ’ contract expire. They could, for example, use that cap space to sign Draymond Green, who is clearly leaving the Warriors next summer and whose elite defense, playmaking, and leadership would be great fits next to LeBron and AD.
The other option the Lakers could choose would be to pursue a Westbrook trade that would only cost one first round draft pick, the idea being to be able to offer two first round picks in a blockbuster trade next summer.
There are packages of players from teams like the Spurs or Hornets the Lakers could acquire that would only cost them one first round draft pick. The problem is none of those trades will make L.A. a legit competitor.
While the Lakers do have other options, there is no solution that is a better fit for what the Lakers need than trading Russell Westbrook and two draft picks to the Indiana Pacers for center Myles Turner and guard Buddy Hield.
The Turner/ Heild chronicles, by Laker Tom. Installment number 147. 🙂
Lol. I’m sure they’re well-written, I just had to move on. Until he’s not on the team, he is, and I’m rooting for the team.
They are always well written but with the same information.
This is the perfect storm of two of Tom’s personal pets being linked to the Lakers. So close he can taste it. Still, he can’t see that it really moves the needle so negligibly towards Lakers contention. Even his beloved trade machine shows this only adds 4 wins. 4!!!! So by most accounts that’s a move from 43-44 wins to 47-48. MAYBE enough to get out of the playin. Good lord, he acts like these two Moes are like getting Giannis.
Man, this has to be the longest offseason I can remember in a long time. I know that it is a challenge to come up with new stuff, fresh takes or different subjects to tackle. But god damned the non-stop barrage of the same exact same player for the purpose of click baiting is just a turnoff for me.
For the past two years it was Westbrook, and before that it used to be KCP and Danny Green. The latter two actually helped us win a chip. It is getting tiring to have dealt with all these “let’s trash Russ” articles. It’s like beating a dead horse over and over. I didn’t like the way KCP and Danny Green were treated here. It was only after they were traded that the team became incompetent around here for trading away such valuable players.
As for Russ, I say let’s ride out his final year. And who knows, he might turn out to be a better player this season than we thought. If not, then let’s move on. But I am willing to support him as long as he is a Laker.