The Los Angeles Lakers badly want you to believe that they might not trade Russell Westbrook. They’ve on multiple occasions leaked an unwillingness to attach draft capital to Westbrook if that’s what it takes to get rid of him. A major component of their head-coaching search was seemingly each candidate’s plan to make the most of Westbrook. When Darvin Ham was ultimately hired, he praised the former MVP endlessly. “Don’t get it messed up, Russell is one of the best players our league has ever seen, and there’s still a ton left in that tank,” Ham said. “I don’t know why people tend to try to write him off.”
Nothing a team says at this time of year should be treated as gospel. Remember, the first time Westbrook was traded, the process began with then-Rockets czar Daryl Morey emphatically declaring that he would not trade Chris Paul. “Tweet that I said that,” Morey told ESPN’s Zach Lowe. “Print it. Tweet it twice.” The Finals haven’t even ended. Teams are still negotiating through the media. Perception is reality right now. What the Lakers are saying does not guarantee that Westbrook will return to the team next season.
But it doesn’t guarantee that he won’t be, either. To be absolutely clear, he shouldn’t be. As evidence for that I point to … literally everything that happened to the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2021-22 season. Rarely are absolutes warranted in team-building, but this is an exception: If Russell Westbrook is the starting point guard for the 2022-23 Los Angeles Lakers, they will not win the championship. End of story. Even in the absolute best-case scenario where a humbled Westbrook embraces the all-around role the Lakers envisioned for him, his $47 million salary is an anchor weighing down this roster. The Lakers had 10 minimum salaried players on their roster last season. We’re watching players like Grant Williams, Jordan Poole and even Draymond Green struggle to stay on the court in the Finals right now, and the Lakers are supposed to build an entire rotation off the scrap heap? Even the perfect three-man trio isn’t enough by itself to win a title. LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Westbrook are far from perfect. If the Lakers can’t turn Westbrook into multiple contributing role players, they cannot win the 2023 championship.
Of course, it’s not entirely clear that the Lakers are prioritizing the 2023 championship. If they were, they might’ve already traded…
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