Things aren’t looking pretty in Tinsel Town as we barrel closer to the NBA trade deadline. After making a move to acquire Rui Hachimura from the Washington Wizards, the Lakers were expected to begin a climb up the standings. However, the first game since that trade with Rui not available yet saw the Lakers fall to a big loss against the LA Clippers despite LeBron James having a 46-point night.
Dennis Schroder and Russell Westbrook both had disappointing performances, with both combining for 7-22 from the field. The point guard pair got into a heated spat courtside after a botched inbounds play by the two players.
A Heated argument between Dennis Schroder and Russell Westbrook as Lebron James sits nearby after his 46 point effort pic.twitter.com/KCGrdOGksZ
— TheNBAGlobal (@TheNBAGlobal) January 25, 2023
Westbrook was furious at the media after the game when he was being asked about this moment.
Russell Westbrook is HEATED right now at the postgame presser and just went after a reporter for asking if there was a "cross-up" during the play where he threw the ball away while trying to find Dennis Schroder.
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) January 25, 2023
Schroder took accountability for the mistake and said that he failed to capitalize on the 50-50 opportunity and fouled Kawhi Leonard, who got an and-1. Schroder reiterated he wasn’t upset with Westbrook for the inbounds play.
Schroder on his argument with Westbrook: "I was so frustrated about that play because I had a chance. It was a 50/50 ball. Then I fouled Kawhi, and-1. I don't care if somebody does a mistake, nobody is perfect. So I don't care. It was nothing about him, and I told him that too."
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) January 25, 2023
This is less than ideal, especially in a Lakers locker room that knows poor-performing players can be traded at any second, with Rob Pelinka openly saying that the Lakers are looking for more trades.
Should Either Dennis Schroder Or Russell Westbrook Be Traded?
Both Schroder and Westbrook will be cognizant that their spots on the roster aren’t safe. Fans have been begging for Russ to be traded away for a while, but Schroder doesn’t have much value on a minimum contract. Russ’s $47 million could bring back 3 rotational players for the Lakers if they so choose.
Westbrook has been linked with a trade to the Spurs again, so it’ll be interesting to see if the Lakers trade their sixth man away. There are a lot of pros to keeping Russ around, but it seems in the big moments in games, the cons always outweigh the pros.
Comparing him to a minimum contract Schroder in value isn’t really fair, as Russ is making over 40 times what Schroder is and isn’t close to being 40 times a better player, even if his skills prove he is slightly better than Schroder in 2023.
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