Russell Westbrook has struggled massively to fit in with the Los Angeles Lakers. Westbrook’s style of play and his lack of defensive prowess have caused him to receive massive criticism from fans and analysts alike. And his relationship with his head coach seems to be deteriorating.
Recently, Westbrook has been on the bench during late-game situations, as Frank Vogel chose to keep him away due to his poor shooting and decision-making, especially in crunch time. After the game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Russ was not happy about being benched and sounded off on that decision.
Westbrook also noted after the game that he told LeBron James and Anthony Davis that he wished he could have been in there with him to try and help them. Vogel defended the decision to bench Westbrook, noting that he did what he thought was best in order to give the Lakers a chance to win the game.
And after the Lakers’ latest loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, Frank Vogel made some comments that were very interesting. When asked about the possibility of Russell Westbrook being traded ahead of the trade deadline today, Vogel noted that the Lakers would do anything that would help make their squad better.
Reporter: “Is there a scenario where [Russell Westbrook] isn’t on the Lakers [after trade deadline]?”
Frank Vogel: “If there's ways to improve our team, we're gonna improve our team. Other than that. I've got nothing to say about the trade deadline.”pic.twitter.com/jB6bZQWF5n
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 10, 2022
“If there’s ways to improve our team, we’re gonna improve our team. Other than that. I’ve got nothing to say about the trade deadline.”
Vogel’s comments are very interesting, especially given the back and forth he has had with Russell Westbrook over the last week. But Lakers fans should not get too excited about the prospect of Westbrook being traded, as a deal to make that happen would be very complicated and difficult to pull off.
Vogel didn’t’ have to factor Russell Westbrook into the starting lineup last night, but still wasn’t able to put together a winning performance for the Lakers. One has to wonder what is the deepest-rooted problem for the Los Angeles Lakers and whether they will be able to fix it.
