As exciting as the NBA draft was, the Lakers’ recent blockbuster trade kind of stole the show. And now, over an hour later, people are still talking about it.
And while many L.A. residents can hardly contain their excitement, not everyone within the organization agreed that Russ is the guy to put them over the top.
According to a report by CBS Sports’ Bill Reiter, not everyone in the front office is excited about the Russ deal.
“There was a strong level of disagreement within that organization about whether or not Russell Westbrook was ultimately the guy that they needed to pursue with the picks and the players that are now headed to Washington.
I communicated with one Lakers source who was not excited about the Westbrook trade, he said, in the end, the star power and belief by Rob Pelinka that Westbrook and his track record of excellence are going to be what the Lakers need even though he’s an interesting pairing.”
(start at 0:20)
"This could be the end of the Alex Caruso era in Los Angeles."@sportsreiter says the Russell Westbrook addition likely means the departure of Alex Caruso. pic.twitter.com/yBTvKPEsZq
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) July 30, 2021
Trading for a 9x All-Star and former MVP sounds like an easy move, but it’s just not that simple in this case.
While Russ will bring energy and playmaking to the Lakers, he is a notoriously bad shooter on the perimeter, making him a rather awkward and interesting fit alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Plus, at 32-years-old, Westbrook isn’t nearly the athlete he once was, which explains why he’s been bounced from three different teams in a span of three years.
The point is, this Westbrook addition isn’t smooth sailing for the Lakers, and it will take some time and a lot of hard work for them to gel and start playing like a true Championship team.
Ultimately, we’ll see soon enough whether or not it was the right move. But, for the lakers’ sake, they better hope they got this one right.
