Getty Lil Wayne attending a Los Angeles Lakers game
The Los Angeles Lakers’ off-season has led to an incredible amount of scrutiny towards the front office, as they have failed to address the lack of perimeter shooting around their star players.
As such, there is a significant contingent of the fanbase and media that believe the Lakers will struggle to make the post-season next year unless some drastic changes are made before the trade deadline. However, Lakers fan and Hip-Hop legend Lil Wayne has a different opinion.
“Beyond being a fan, I believe we can go all the way. I believe the Lakers can go as far as LeBron (James) can take them. As far as AD (Anthony Davis) can take them, as far as his health can take them. I think if LeBron and AD are out there, I don’t think Russ (Westbrook) can hurt them. You’ve gotta remember, it’s not like LeBron and AD were out there – he (Westbrook) didn’t do that (dominate the ball and force the offense) while they were out there,” Lil Wayne said during an appearance on Fox Sports’ Uninterrupted.
Unfortunately, there’s no guaranteeing Davis’ health, nor is it possible to expect LeBron, 37, to be available for every regular-season game. As such, the Lakers will need to rely on their depth, and Westbrook’s star power to see them through some spells of being short-handed, and that didn’t work out too well for the franchise last season.
Westbrook is Open to Being Traded
With so many positions of need throughout the Lakers roster, and so little in the way of tradeable assets, Los Angeles may need to move on from a couple of their star players in order to shake things up. Of course, we’ve all seen and heard the rhetoric surrounding Westbrook’s future within the franchise, and the Lakers even embarked on a failed attempt to swap the star guard for Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets.
However, in a recent episode of The Lowe Post Podcast, ESPN’s Ramona Shelbourne shed light on Westbrook’s mentality heading into the new season, noting how the California native would be willing to leave the Lakers, assuming his new team was happy to give him a starring role.
Lowe Post podcast: @ramonashelburne on all things Lakers as camp approaches and Russ remains on the team, then @kpelton and I preview the Hawks — this season and going forward:
Apple: Apple: t.co/kkLyyZ5d3P
Spotify:
“Russ is very open to a trade. He hasn’t asked for a trade. I’ve been assured of that. But he’s open to that, and somebody who wants him and wants to empower him and wants him to be Russell Westbrook of old,” Shelbourne said on a recent episode of The Lowe Post podcast.
However, trading away Westbrook is unlikely to net the Lakers any significant pieces to revamp their roster, and as such, the move would solely be due to his poor fit with the rest of the team’s roster.
Lakers Pricing Themselves Out of Trades
If you subscribe to the notion that Los Angeles needs to trade away some of their core in order to improve their overall roster construction, then you may have already seen how the front office has recently priced itself out of a potential deal with the Utah Jazz.
Report: Lakers and Jazz have exchanged trade offers, remain ‘far apart’ in talks
According to The Athletic’s Tony Jones, the Lakers and Jazz recently re-entered into trade negotiations, only for their conversation to reach an impasse, as neither team was willing to meet the other’s demands.
“They’ve been talking to the Lakers. The Jazz made an offer to the Lakers. The Lakers made a counteroffer to the Jazz. Those two offers were far apart, and I don’t know that there’s going to be enough of a gap to be bridged in order for a trade to happen there.
“I can tell you that the Jazz was seeking one of Los Angeles’ first-round picks, but the asking price for that first-round pick is probably too much for what the Jazz are willing to pay,” Jones said when appearing on a September 10 episode of The Drive with Spencer Checketts.
With that in mind, maybe Lil Wayne has the right approach to the upcoming season – bank of the health of Davis and LeBron and trust the rest of the roster to figure things out, otherwise, it’s going to be another early vacation for the purple and gold.