The Los Angeles Lakers have mightily struggled this NBA season, having chemistry issues that have affected the team’s level. They have suffered humiliating losses in the past couple of games, setting the alarms at Crypto.com Arena.
The trade deadline is less than 24 hours away and the Purple and Gold are expected to be very active before it strikes. Russell Westbrook has been linked with a move away from the team, but that’s not the only trade they could make this Thursday.
Brodie’s tenure with the team is seemingly over, as the team doesn’t think he’s a good fit with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Lakers don’t think they can win a title with their Big 3.
Via The Athletic:
Sources told The Athletic that inside the locker room, players see and feel the same problems as everyone else, perhaps never more clearly than after a non-competitive loss to the champs. They understand as well as anyone that the personnel on this joyless 26-29 team simply isn’t working.
Sources have indicated that the Lakers no longer believe they can win at a high level with Westbrook alongside James and Davis, but prior to Tuesday the line of thinking was that the Lakers would be unwilling to wave the white flag and admit their summer blockbuster was a failure. Instead, they would prefer to wait until the offseason, when they could also include a 2029 pick in a potential deal for another max-contract player looking for a new home.
But the tone after Tuesday’s loss suggested the Lakers are in need of more immediate action. Could things be so dire that the Lakers would be better off including that ’27 pick in a swap now — say for Houston’s John Wall? — even if it means a lesser return? Desperation got the Lakers into this mess and it might take desperation to get them out.
Either way, whether it is by Thursday’s deadline or in the summer, the Lakers know they need to find their way out of the Russell Westbrook business.
This was expected to happen since the Westbrook trade was announced. His style of play would be a problem with LeBron James, and time proved doubters right. It’s still unclear if there’s a team interested in Westbrook’s services. We’ll have to wait and see tomorrow when everything will be decided for the Lakers and the rest of the league.
