Russell Westbrook is apparently embracing his new role on the Los Angeles Lakers, taking a different part in the team’s strategy, coming off the bench. At least, that’s what he did during Friday night’s game between the Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves, where he thrived off the bench and even had a better understanding with LeBron James.
This could be great news for the Lakers. However, they keep losing games regardless of how well Westbrook and James play, and that’s already an issue for them. Many fans have apologized to Russ after his most recent games, but the buzz about a trade involving him continues.
The Lakers are expected to resume trade talks with a couple of teams around the league, seemingly to trade Westbrook and get some shooters in return. This could be a good move for the Lakers, but also probably a bad thing for Brodie.
Russell Westbrook Could Be Out Of The League Soon, Says NBA Insider
During a recent edition of The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (via Audacy), Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix revealed info about Russ’ future in the NBA, even suggesting that the former NBA MVP could be playing his final season in the league. Mannix says that Westbrook needs to change the way he plays or his career will end soon.
“The hardest thing for any player is to accept when their athleticism is waning and their skills are declining. We saw it quite visibly with Allen Iverson towards the end of his career where he bounced around from Detroit to Memphis back to Philadelphia. Allen Iverson very easily could have tacked on three, four, five years of his career if he accepted the decline of his skills and accepted that he was a lesser player,” said Mannix, who, in addition to his work at Sports Illustrated, also covers the Celtics as a studio analyst for NBC Sports Boston. “You can see Westbrook sliding right down that Iversonian path where he’s not going to accept anything short of the role he had throughout the entirety of his career and he’s never going to accept that he’s not the player he was in Oklahoma City when he won an MVP.”
Mannix talked about other players who had to transition to make room for others while getting out of the spotlight, which is what Westbrook needs to do now.
“You can say to Russ, ‘Look you went to Houston. It didn’t work. You went to Washington. It didn’t work. Last season in L.A. It didn’t work.’ You can show him that there’s plenty of reasons why he should change, but he just won’t do it. And as long as he’s being this obstinate, there’s a pretty good chance we’re looking at the last season of Russell Westbrook’s career,” warned Mannix. “Look, I understand the challenge that goes with it. But Russell Westbrook right now, through three games, is shooting 8.3 percent from three-point range. He has made four of his 17 jump shots this year. His decision-making has been awful for the entirety of this early part of the season. If he doesn’t change, that’s it. There’s nobody out there that’s going to give him even a minimum-level contract.”
He added that whichever team gets Russ will probably waive him or send him home, as they have different aspirations now than the Lakers, and Westbrook doesn’t fit what they’re looking for.
“Whoever acquires Westbrook in a trade, whether it’s Utah or Indiana, Charlotte has been mentioned as a possibility because of Gordon Hayward and his contract, they’re not keeping him. If Utah acquired Russell Westbrook tomorrow, they would waive him or send him home. He would never play a game for the Utah Jazz. He would never play a game for the Indiana Pacers. They’re not acquiring Russell Westbrook the player. They’re acquiring the multiple draft picks that will come with him and the contract that will come off the books next season,” said Mannix. “If Russell Westbrook doesn’t play for the Lakers this season, he’s not going to play anywhere.”
This is a complex situation for Westbrook, who is already struggling to find his position on the Lakers. Perhaps, if he embraces his new role on the Purple and Gold, things could change for him, but right now, he’s not a very attractive player around the league.
