The Los Angeles Lakers put together one of the most controversial trades of all time when they landed Russell Westbrook. It’s not that he’s not a great player, former Scoring Champion, and MVP but the fit next to Anthony Davis and LeBron James was questionable.
More than that, the Lakers added multiple veterans to their squad. And while they’re pretty good on paper, the age factor is a huge concern for some analysts.
As a matter of fact, former NBA player Jalen Rose believes that having an older roster will prevent them from getting a top-2 seed in the Western Conference. Nonetheless, that’s where he believes that Russell Westbrook can come in handily:
“Solely because of their age, they’ll likely not have a number 1/2 seed,” Rose started. “AD gets injured, they get bounced in the first round. This is where you add Russ though. Put the ages back up there. This is the main reason why you have Russ. Because having him, he don’t play his age, not during the regular season.”
Rose believes that Westbrook will be at his best when Anthony Davis or LeBron James – or both – are out of the lineup and that he’s good enough to carry the load for the Lakers while they’re in the sidelines:
“He is gonna be putting super-sized triple-doubles, especially when their #1 and #2 LeBron or AD is out. And if both of them are out, Russ can win player of the week that week,” Rose concluded.
Russell Westbrook already knows what it’s like to play next to superstars. He embraced a lesser role in Houston and is reportedly willing to do the same in Los Angeles.
He may not be the shooter that James and Davis need around them. But all the great players eventually figure things out, and Westbrook won’t be the exception to that rule.
