Russell Westbrook is yet to prove he can play well alongside LeBron James on the Los Angeles Lakers. Given their similar styles of play and their need to have the ball in their hands most of the time, plenty of fans are concerned about the fit between these two superstars.
The Lakers created a Big 3 with Brodie, James, and Anthony Davis, but they’ve struggled to find their touch in the young 2021/22 NBA season. These issues raised several eyebrows around the league, with people wondering if the Lakers made the right decision when they traded for Westbrook instead of a floor spacer.
Before the team’s front office secured the trade with the Washington Wizards for Russ, they almost had a deal done with the Sacramento Kings. The Lakers wanted to land Buddy Hield, who would have solved plenty of issues for them.
Instead, they took the Wizards’ offer, bringing Westbrook home and leaving the Kings ‘fuming’ after turning down their proposal. Recently, many people have reminded the Lakers that they missed out on the chance of landing Hield. Shannon Sharpe even claimed LeBron James won’t get away with it if the Lakers don’t win the title.
More people around the league are comparing Russ’ start to Hield’s, showing the differences between the point guard and the sharpshooter. Sam Amick of The Athletic pointed out how bad Westbrook has performed so far, while Hield is thriving in Sacramento.
One night later, the sight of Westbrook getting so flustered at the end of his latest Oklahoma City reunion game was, well, some sort of unofficial confirmation that even he knows there’s a ton of work left to do here. To wit…
Westbrook is averaging more turnovers (6.0) than everyone in the league not named Kevin Porter Jr. (6.3).
He has missed 19 of 23 3-pointers so far (17.4 percent). The silver lining? At least he’s off to a better long-range start than Damian Lillard (17.1) and De’Aaron Fox (16.7).
The not-so-silver lining? Sacramento’s Buddy Hield, the player who came so close to being traded to the Lakers, instead of Westbrook, and whose spacing would certainly come in handy right about now, is shooting 44.2 percent from beyond the arc while taking 10.8 attempts per game (second in the league behind Golden State’s Curry).
The massive divide between the Lakers’ net rating when he’s on the court (minus-9.3) and off (plus-12.7) is surely enough to keep Lakers coach Frank Vogel up at night.
Hield seems to be on a mission this year. Following a couple of tumultuous campaigns with the Kings, the shooting guard is posting excellent numbers, trying to take this team to the next level and compete for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
On the other hand, Westbrook has a lot of work to do before unlocking his potential, even with LeBron James on the court. The 32-year-old demonstrated he still got it, but the Lakers want to see their Big 3 thriving, not just two players.
They have a lot of work to do before becoming legit championship contenders, but now more people are starting to think they were better off trading for Buddy instead of Russ.
