Getty Lakers guard Russell Westbrook
The Boston Celtics still have three spots left on their current roster right now. At the moment, they will have Noah Vonleh, Bruno Caboclo, and Denzel Valentine duking it out in training camp for a roster spot. Celtics Insider Brian Robb added that Justin Jackson and Brodric Thomas might also be brought into training camp. Another name that’s been floating around is Russell Westbrook.
Throughout the summer, there have been reports indicating that the Los Angeles Lakers are looking to trade Westbrook. This has fueled speculation that, if and when Westbrook gets traded, the team that would acquire him would then buy him out
Robb was recently asked what he thought of the Celtics inquiring about Westbrook’s services following a hypothetical trade and buyout. Robb believes that those who currently occupy the Celtics backcourt are better options than Westbrook, which is why he doesn’t see the Celtics bringing him in.
“Even if Westbrook is bought out after being traded and willing to play for the veteran’s minimum, I would not expect the Celtics to have any interest in him. The team’s backcourt already has better options than him, and they aren’t going to hand him a starting role on this team.”
Recently, the speculation surrounding if Westbrook will get traded has been fueled by the Lakers’ newest addition, Patrick Beverley.
Lakers May Not Have Westbrook on Their Active Roster
After the Lakers completed their trade for Beverley, Jovan Buha of The Athletic wrote that Beverley coming in, combined with his previous rivalry with Westbrook, makes it likely the Lakers will either trade Westbrook or send him home before training camp starts.
“The feud has always stemmed deeper from Westbrook’s side. He’s never forgiven Beverley for the knee injury, and Westbrook doesn’t seem to be the forgive-and-forget type. Beverley, for his part, felt Westbrook’s “Pat Bev trick y’all” comments in 2019 damaged his reputation. Their beef is up there with the most rancid in the league.
“Beverley’s arrival makes it more likely that Westbrook will be off the active roster by the start of training camp, either through a trade or the team sending him home a la the Rockets with John Wall last season, according to a source close to the situation.”
However, it appears LeBron James and Beverley himself have endorsed Westbrook sticking around with the Lakers.
LeBron and Beverley Show Support For Westbrook
On August 25, 2022, the Twitter user known as “73-9 and THEY LIED” tweeted that the amount of hatred geared toward Westbrook is corny regardless of how things went last season,
the Westbrook disrespect and vitriol is still corny regardless of how you feel about last season. Some people gotta get a life man
LeBron responded to this tweet, vowing that he would go off during the 2022-23 season.
@CuffsTheLegend Can’t wait for him to go off this season!! 🤫
Beverley quote-tweeted LeBron, implying that he, too, can’t wait to see what Westbrook could do this upcoming season.
Seeing Westbrook and Beverley take the floor together would be something else. Their rivalry over the years ran so deep that security took the floor to ensure that the two of them would not get into a fight back in 2018 when Beverley played for the Los Angeles Clippers and Westbrook played for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Police have been brought onto the court to keep Westbrook and Beverley away from each other
Westbrook has not publicly acknowledged the Lakers’ acquisition of Beverley since it became official.