The Los Angeles Lakers decided to take a massive gamble with their roster at the start of the 2021-22 season by trading a lot of their core roster depth in Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to trade for a non-shooting Russell Westbrook after he had a fantastic second half of the season to lead the Washington Wizards into the playoffs.
Playing alongside LeBron James, Westbrook was unable to replicate that success, having one of the worst years of his career on the court. Russ looked out of sync with the Lakers’ offense and former head coach Frank Vogel openly talked about how he needed to be benched.
Former Lakers player and father of Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson, Mychal Thompson spoke about Russ openly, reiterating the belief that Russ will have a much better sophomore season if given a chance.
"He knows a lot of people are blaming him wrongly for the Lakers failures."
Mychal Thompson sees Russell Westbrook bouncing back for the Lakers this season #LakeShow@champagnennuts | @adaniels33 | @thegoodshepard_ pic.twitter.com/KTY23Cgg2e
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) August 21, 2022
“Russ got a lot of pride. Even though he didn’t have his best year last year, a lot of people are blaming him wrongly for the Lakers’ failure. I think Russ is gonna come in with the right attitude to prove everyone wrong. Darvin Ham isn’t a guy who’s afraid to speak his mind. LeBron, AD, and Russ respect that he isn’t afraid to speak his mind… I think Russell Westbrook is going to fall in line and comeback and have a strong season just to prove the doubters wrong.”
Coach Darvin Ham has laid out a defensive role for Westbrook with the team, hoping he becomes a better corner shooter. He won’t be able to command the ball more than LeBron James, who’s still the best player on this team despite turning 38 next season.
The possibilities of a Westbrook trade have slimmed down with the Nets allegedly holding on to Kyrie Irving. The Lakers might actually have to start the season with Westbrook on their team and it is best if the team figures out how to make that work instead of angling for trades all season.
