The Los Angeles Lakers have finally broken their duck this season and won a game. The Lakers had a strong performance against the Denver Nuggets, who many hailed among the preseason contenders to win the title. It was a team effort as good performances from LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook made the win possible.
Westbrook had a profound impact on the team off the bench. While he still struggled with shooting efficiency, he provided 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists with good effort on defense. Russ is evidently buying into Darvin Ham’s system, and Anthony Davis made sure he personally commended Russ for making that sacrifice after the Lakers won.
Anthony Davis said he approached Russell Westbrook in the locker room postgame to tell him how he is proud of him for how he accepted his role that Darvin Ham laid out for him, saying Westbrook is “flourishing” off the bench so far
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 31, 2022
Davis is exhibiting good leadership by extending support to Russ. The situation Westbrook is in is something he has never experienced before as the star on every team he was on. If this system continues to work and the Lakers can improve their shooting to even 35% a game, they’ll be competitive.
Will The Lakers Keep Westbrook For The Entire Season?
Fans and critics have been begging the Lakers to trade Russ since February 2022. After going through the offseason without the big trade, fans hoped it’d come in the season. This performance has proven to everyone that there is a system within which Russ and the Lakers can be successful.
Whether Westbrook remains bought into the project for the next 76 games in the season is something we will have to wait and see. All current trades would give the Lakers a lot of death in terms of 2 or 3 incoming players for the outgoing Westbrook.
On the other hand, keeping Russ and letting his contract expire not only helps the Lakers keep the 2 first-round picks they own, but it also lets them make a run at a free agent like Kyrie Irving next summer and then use the picks to make trades to finish up the supporting cast. With that carrot being dangled and Russ being able to play like this, the Lakers might just let Westbrook see the season out and walk away as a free agent.
