Russell Westbrook has underwhelmed, to say the least, since arriving with the Lakers. And, if both sides have their druthers, he’ll be playing elsewhere next season.
Reports have emerged that there’s “mutual interest in finding Westbrook a new home this summer,” mercifully ending one of the most disastrous acquisitions in franchise history.
Westbrook shot 5-of-17 Tuesday in a 109-104 home loss to the Dallas Mavericks; the performance was isn’t an outlier. On 12 occasions, he’s finished with more turnovers than made field goals; he’s been benched several times due to poor play; and his plus-minus against the Mavericks (-8) was greater than the difference in the Lakers’ loss.
At 27-34, the Lakers’ playoff hopes are fading fast.
The Rockets were interested in a potential Westbrook-for-John Wall swap at the trade deadline, but those talks reportedly “didn’t generate significant traction.”
Another route the Lakers could take would be to waive Westbrook this year, but that would entail few benefits—it would jettison Westbrook and allow them to spread his $47 million salary over the next three seasons, but doing so wouldn’t generate actual cap space in 2022 because LeBron James and Anthony Davis are making max salaries.
If Westbrook is going to leave L.A, in the offseason, it’ll be via trade. The only thing left to do is find a team.
