Why Teams Should Not Bail Out The Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers have been under fire since trading for Russell Westbrook last offseason, relinquishing both depth and draft equity for the former All-Star, whose game was always a murky fit with LeBron James.

Now, a year later, the two sides are ready to move on from one another, and understandably so. The Lakers finished just 33-49 and missed the playoffs entirely during Westbrook’s debut season for the franchise.

But for teams out there, there isn’t a lot of merit in brining in Westbrook, and provide him with his fifth different jersey in as many seasons. In fact, it might even behoove teams to let the Lakers clean up their own mess.

No upside in acquiring Westbrook

The soon-to-be 34-year-old point guard remains steadfast in his belief that he is an elite player, who isn’t far removed from his 2017 MVP season. His shot selection, usage rate, and overall need to be involved in as many on-ball actions as humanly possible is a clear sign of how Westbrook views himself.

It makes little, if any, sense for teams to trade for the former All-Star, unless their goal of the season is to tank aggressively for a high draft pick in 2023. And even so, giving up anything of significant value for a so-called “Tank Commander” simply isn’t advisable. Furthermore, if a team is heading down that route, they presumably have young players at hand already, making a Westbrook acquisition costly through the perspective of player development. Players simply won’t improve by watching Westbrook dribble the ball all game long, and settling for long contested two-pointers.

The Lakers, however, remain hopeful for an upgrade. Kyrie Irving and Buddy Hield have been brought up as potential targets, both of whom would fit the on-court product dimensions better than Westbrook. Given Irving’s own drama in Brooklyn, the idea is to swap problems. So far, nothing has seemingly developed on that front, which does makes sense given the disparity in quality between the two players.

Hield, enjoying a bit of a resurgence after getting traded to Indiana, was on the Lakers’ radar last year, before they pivoted to Westbrook instead. That deal also doesn’t make a lot of sense, given that Indiana has a young franchise point guard in place via Tyrese Haliburton, and thus would not risk hurting his continued development by adding in Westbrook.

Looking over the NBA landscape, no team stands out as an obvious landing spot for Westbrook. Nor should they.

Westbrook is finished as an elite player, and has been for quite some time. The Lakers gambled on a player clearly in the winter of his career, gave up too much, and learned the hard way that their hubris was bigger than their ability to evaluate talent.

As such, if they want to get out of the situation they put themselves in, they should pay for it.

The cost of doing business

What is the cost for taking on Westbrook, you might wonder. It’s a good question.

On the one hand, he’s an expiring contract, so you aren’t locking yourself in for long. On the other hand, he’s still owed over $47 million this season, and comes with a game entirely unsuitable for today’s league.

The Lakers would undoubtedly need to attach draft compensation, and possibly quite a bit of it, before any team begins to have serious internal meetings about adding Westbrook to their team. And likely, the Lakers wouldn’t be interested in relinquishing their long-term future just to get off Westbrook either.

But, then what? James is going to turn 38 later this year, and nobody knows how long Anthony Davis can remain healthy after the start of the season. The Lakers are built to win now, meaning their best-case scenario is moving off Westbrook for a player in a similar age bracket. But teams that have players in that age bracket that would fit the Lakers’ need are likely also trying to win now. Why would they gamble on Westbrook?

Make no mistake. The Lakers are extremely limited in what they can do, and they’re under tremendous pressure to get something done. If they waste another year of James’ career, chatter of severe incompetence will begin to make the rounds, if it hasn’t already. If the organization has reached the status of desperation, that wouldn’t be at all surprising, and a willing team should indeed squeeze them for everything they have.

The Lakers are fine giving up draft picks to get better. History has shown us as much. Are they fine giving up draft picks to get off a bad contract? That is less certain, but it’s the scenario unfolding in front of their very eyes at this moment in time.

For teams around the league, it makes sense to let the Rob Pelinka and the front office build up their own panic level. For too long have the Lakers fallen backwards into top-tier players by simply being the Lakers. They made a franchise-altering mistake last year, and it’s time to show that it’s not something they can get out of by simply waving the purple and gold flag.

Unless noted otherwise, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.