This season has been an endless downward spiral for the Los Angeles Lakers, who despite getting incredible performances from LeBron James, currently find themselves in the 9th seed spot in the West. They lost to a Trail Blazers team that had just traded away Norman Powell and CJ McCollum on Wednesday night, showing exactly how dire the situation is for the franchise at this point.
One of the key players that have come in for the majority of the criticism is Russell Westbrook, who has seen his name get dragged through the mud this season. There have been several rumors about a potential trade to go along with the fact that coach Frank Vogel no longer trusts him to be on the floor late in close games either. And according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, a team source has said that the Lakers need to dump Westbrook as soon as they can.
“They have to do something with the roster. I had a team source tell me today, specifically, what he would like to see done with the roster. Trade Russell Westbrook. He told me, ‘We gotta rip the band-aid off to be able to move forward this season’.”
Westbrook is still earning upwards of $40 million and his contract is one of the more tough contracts to find a partner for in the league. Russ has been linked with a trade to the Houston Rockets, who are similarly trying to move on from John Wall and will reportedly buy Westbrook out if they can get him in a transaction.
While Westbrook has maintained that he is confident in himself and his ability, his poor play this season has undeniably been a factor in the Lakers not living up to the hype around them before the season began. The former MVP is not a good fit in the roster and if his teammates have lost faith in him, could use a move to a different situation.
