Getty Russell Westbrook, Los Angeles Lakers
Darvin Ham might be new to his position as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, but the hard work will already be underway.
The first port of call will be to figure out Russell Westbrook’s future on the roster with the front office, and if the star guard is expected to remain with the team, Ham will need to get him focused on the task at hand.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, there is a way Westbrook can co-exist with LeBron James and Anthony Davis next season, but it would take the aging guard accepting a new role within the team.
“If Darvin Ham is being told unequivocally that Russell Westbrook will be part of this team. To me, his first order of business is sitting down with Russell Westbrook and saying, ‘Russ, you can extend your career by five years if you become a sixth man.’ Look at some of the guys that have done it, the Jamal Crawford, the players of that ilk…If he doesn’t become a sixth man or become more of a role player?
His career ends after this season, simple as that. Nobody’s going to sign him to be a starter in this league. But if he’s willing to make that transition, he’s willing to make that turn. He could have a five, or six-year career cause he could still play well against second-unit type of guys,” Mannix said on a recent episode of the Dan Patrick Show.
It would seem that Westbrook finds himself in a position similar to what Carmelo Anthony found himself in a few years ago, and given his declining skill set, it does make sense to ask the star guard to accept a role as the team’s primary option off the bench.
Lakers Leaning Towards Keeping Westbrook
Westbrook’s debut season in Los Angeles quickly turned into a nightmare. The basketball fit was never there, he was consistently played in a role that limited his ability to make a high-level impact, and his relationship with the fans turned sour.
So, for Westbrook to want a fresh start isn’t illogical, but with a $47 million player option, it’s hard to see which team would be willing to trade for him – and that includes the point guard starved New York Knicks – especially without any additional assets attached.
And herein lies the issue, the Lakers would likely be inclined to move on from Westbrook in a straight salary dump or one-for-one trade, but emptying their already bare draft cupboard doesn’t appeal to a front office that’s already trying to fix past mistakes.
The Lakers plan to keep Russell Westbrook. LA refuses to give up “additional assets” to send him out, per @TheSteinLine
Westbrook is expected to exercise his $47M player option for next season
Marc Stein confirmed this train of thought in a recent Stein Line newsletter, as he detailed the Lakers’ unwillingness to part with the All-Star ball-handler if it meant losing additional assets as a result.
“The Lakers are tuning out the skeptics yet again and insisting to anyone who will listen that they would rather keep Russell Westbrook on the roster for next season than surrender additional assets to convince someone to trade for him. The Lakers are also said to be adamant that they won’t release the former MVP and eat his $47.1 million player option for next season after Westbrook picks it up,” Stein wrote.
Lakers Re-Tooling Will Take Time
When looking at the current Lakers roster, and how many areas need addressing, it’s clear that getting the team to a point where they can be competitive despite injury issues is going to take time.
Right now, the Lakers are an aging roster devoid of explosiveness, high-upside youth, and elite role players. Sure, Dwight Howard and Co. are all capable of impacting winning, but they’re no longer the dominant forces they used to be, and while the notion of an aging superteam looked good on paper, in reality, it failed to deceive.
Even Russell Westbrook, who I expect LA to try to move this summer, disappears 1 year from now (assuming he picks up his player option). While it isn’t ideal, the worst-case is the Lakers re-tool this summer, bite the Westbrook bullet, and move forward in a year w/ open cap room
Heading into the off-season, the Lakers will need to be judicial with where they commit their money, and which veterans from the current rotation they keep around heading into next season. Of course, if Westbrook was to accept the notion of coming off the bench, the Lakers’ outlook drastically changes, but that currently seems like a pipe dream.
However, Darvin Ham will have an idea about how he wants his team to play basketball, and who can be successful within his system, so it’s fair to assume he already knows which players will be returning to the Lakers next season, but without some new blood, it could be another long year for LeBron, the Lakers, and its fanbase.