The Los Angeles Lakers are hoping to see great results from their latest risky move to add Russell Westbrook to the bench lineup and end his time as a starter in the NBA. Westbrook had the most consecutive starts in the last decade, a record that he had to give up after coming off the bench in LA’s last 2 games and doing so in tonight’s clash against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Westbrook’s new role and how he performs in it is going to be the determining factor in whether the Lakers can salvage their 1-5 start to the season. It has been an encouraging start to Westbrook’s sixth-man role, but former NBA player Brevin Knight believes Russ can’t play a role on a winning team but can easily impress on a poor team where he can get triple-doubles.
“I also say to Russ, when did you start to change or start to say, ‘What do I have to do with my game so that I can continue to affect winning?’ He has not done enough with his individual game to put him in a position to affect winning with that present Lakers team. Now we put him on a lesser team and say give him the ball and let him run around. He’ll get triple-doubles just like he did in Oklahoma City. But in a winning situation, how does your skills help teams, help this team win? He hasn’t figured that out.”
That’s a pretty brutal assessment, especially when we are seeing Russ finally accept a bench role. It’s on Westbrook to prove to people who think he can’t contribute to winning basketball now that he is in a better-fitting situation on the Lakers.
Is Moving Westbrook To The Bench Enough?
The biggest option in front of the Lakers is still possibly trading Russ away for multiple players that can help them make a playoff push this season. It seems they value their picks and would rather bring Westbrook off the bench and keep him on his team instead of taking long-term salary through contracts of Buddy Hield or Mike Conley.
If that’s the motivation, there’s nothing the Lakers can do except put Russ on the bench to help him thrive without sharing the floor with LeBron James. The Lakers’ bench issues could be remedied by an offensive mind like Russ, but it’ll only be seen over the course of the season how long this will last.
