The Los Angeles Lakers are living complex times since they decided to trade a big part of their core to land Russell Westbrook last year, and things aren’t getting any better ahead of the 2022/23 NBA season. The Purple and Gold gambled with the Russ addition and things quickly backfired.
They couldn’t even make it to the play-in tournament and many fans blamed Westbrook for that incredible failure. The fanbase expected him to be out of the team this offseason, especially after the Lakers were linked with a move for Kyrie Irving a couple of weeks ago. This remains a likely possibility, but it’s not as strong as before.
Meanwhile, LeBron James is trying to have a clear path to face a big season. The team must address this Westbrook situation and see what else they can do to improve the roster. Landing Kyrie would be perfect for them, but things aren’t that easy for the Purple and Gold.
According to Jovan Buha, if the Lakers don’t make a big upgrade this offseason and the next campaign goes wrong, James would leave the franchise. First, he talks about the Lakers being a 9th or 10th seed in the West given how competitive the conference is, which will affect the Lakers with their current roster.
“The Lakers are a play-in team as currently constructed, and they might be on the low end of the play-in, they might be a 9th or 10th seed if we’re looking at how deep the West is. You got the Clippers now healthy with Kawhi, you got Denver coming back with Jamal Murray and Michael Porter, Phoenix kept Ayton, Golden State is the defending champs, Memphis, Dallas, Minnesota loaded up, New Orleans is getting Zion back. The West is loaded and if you compete those teams with the Lakers, maybe the Lakers is worse than those teams… If they can’t move Russ for Buddy Hield or Kyrie [Irving], maybe just send him home, like John Wall in Houston.”
Moreover, he speculated about the possibility of LeBron James leaving the team if they don’t make a huge splash next season (42:47):
“I’m gonna say it won’t [be LeBron James’ last season in LA], but I think it really depends on Russ and the season that they have. …I think if they stand pat and basically punt the season, I could see him potentially leaving next offseason, but my expectation is they’re gonna flip Russ at some point. And assuming they get Buddy Hield or Kyrie, or a decent package back for them, I think that’s probably enough to satisfy LeBron and keep it in L.A.”
This next season might be bigger than we think for the Lakers. They have plenty of things to work out and the opinions of their staffers are very different from one another. One day it seems like Westbrook has played his last game in Los Angeles, but Darvin Ham’s statements say something different. Every day a new rumor comes out, but we won’t know what is going to happen until next season starts and Russ is on the court, on the bench, or at home.
