Skip to main content

Russell Westbrook says 'the plan' is to return to Lakers next season, knows 'nothing is promised'


 


Russell Westbrook's debut season with the Los Angeles Lakers did not go as planned. On Tuesday, they were eliminated from postseason contention by the same team that knocked them out of the playoffs a year ago: the Phoenix Suns. Westbrook struggled to fit alongside the ball-dominant LeBron James. He did not improve as a shooter, grow as an off-ball mover or commit to playing strong defense. In addition, his $44 million salary prevented the Lakers from maintaining the deep supporting cast that made them so dangerous over the past few seasons. The move, by nearly any measure, was a disaster.


But after the 121-110 loss to Phoenix, Westbrook indicated that he's ready to try it all again if that's how things shake out. 


"That's the plan," Westbrook said after the game before acknowledging the reality of the situation. "But nothing is promised. You kind of have to take it one day at a time each day. Like I've said all season long, you've got to play the cards you're dealt. Yes, we want to be able to see what that looks like, what that entails over the course of an 82-game season, but we're not sure if that's guaranteed, either. So I just hope that we have a chance to be able to do something."


If Westbrook wants to remain with the Lakers, the first domino is his to be knocked down. He has a $47 million player option for next season. If he picks it up, he will at least be under contract with the team, but they will still be free to trade him. Of course, if the Lakers are afraid that they cannot move him, Westbrook could offer to decline the option and extend his contract for multiple seasons at a lower rate. This would also likely be unpalatable, and if the Lakers wanted to, they could simply use the stretch provision to waive Westbrook and pay him what he is owed over the course of several years. Should Westbrook hit the open market, he would not earn offers anywhere close to the $47 million the Lakers are obligated to pay him if he opts in.


Westbrook isn't the only major Laker to imply that he wouldn't mind running it back. Anthony Davis wondered after Sunday's loss to the Denver Nuggets what might have been. "Guys feel like, 'OK, what could we have been if I was healthy all year, [LeBron James] was healthy, [Kendrick] Nunn was healthy?' You think about those things," Davis said. "We put this team together and it looked good on paper, but we haven't had a chance to reach that potential with guys in and out of the lineup. So the most frustrating part of this season is not being sure of what we could have been."


Even when the Lakers (31-48) had their full star trio, they weren't particularly effective. They were outscored even during the minutes when all three played together. The trio simply did not fit together. None are elite shooters. They cramped the floor for one another and their enormous salaries prevented the team from adding the sort of role players that would have made sense alongside them.


The widespread assumption around the league is that Westbrook will pick up that $47 million option. Financially speaking, he would be foolish not to. From there, the ball is in the Lakers' court. They will surely seek out trade opportunities, and with Westbrook on an expiring contract this offseason, moving him might be possible. If it isn't, Westbrook at least appears open to mending fences even if there's little evidence suggesting that doing so would be worthwhile for either side.



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dennis Rodman Once Said He, Michael Jordan, And Scottie Pippen Could Lock Up LeBron James: "LeBron Is So Easy To Play. He’s So F**king Easy To Play. He Doesn’t Have Any Moves."

  If there is something that will never end it is the comparison between players from different eras. Even in that niche, most comparisons revolve around the legendary players from the Chicago Bulls. Yes, we are talking about the likes of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman. A perfect example of that was seen by fans back in a 2019 interview featuring Dennis Rodman. The Worm was asked about his thoughts on guarding none other than LeBron James. Rodman replied: (starts at 6:06) "You know who could lock up LeBron? Me, Mike, and Scottie could. F*ck yeah. I would have locked his a** up. LeBron is so easy to play. He’s so f*cking easy to play, he don’t have any moves. Only move he has is streak down the line. He ain’t got no moves. Where he going?? Where is he going that’s quick? That’ll be sh*t, you can stop that. Scottie Pippen would have shut his f*cking a** down quick before I get to him. His game is too simple, he’s just big. I’m 260 and 6’8” and 6’9”, that’s the onl...
Post a Comment
Read more

From Deep: At long last, Nikola Jokic's Nuggets can envision getting to the top of the mountain

  Jamal Murray tore his ACL on April 12, 2021. Leading up to that night, he'd been playing at an All-NBA level for two months: In a 25-game stretch, Murray averaged 24.1 points on .509/.459/.935 shooting splits, 4.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists. He was even more efficient than he was in the bubble playoffs, and his defense had improved, too. Murray only got to play with Aaron Gordon, the Denver Nuggets' big trade-deadline addition, for five games. They won them all except the one in which Murray got injured. In 110 minutes, their new starting five scored slightly more efficiently than any iteration of the Kevin Durant-era death lineup in Golden State and defended like a top-five team. Two Nikola Jokic MVP awards later, Murray is back. So is Michael Porter Jr., who signed a five-year extension about a year ago and needed back surgery nine games into the 2020-21 season. The Nuggets remember how easily everything slid into place with Gordon in the mix. Newcomer Kentavious Caldwell-Pop...
Post a Comment
Read more

Michael Jordan On LeBron James: "He's An Unbelievable Player, He's One Of The Best Players In The World... I'm A Fan Of His, I Love Watching Him Play..."

  Even before he made it to the NBA, LeBron James was already compared to the greatest player of all time, Michael Jordan. His Airness made a huge impact on the league, winning six championships in eight years, dominating rivals every night, and becoming one of the best two-way players in NBA history.  During his career, and even during his retirement, many players were compared to Jordan, but nobody could live up to the expectations. LeBron James was deemed 'The Chosen One' when he was a teenager, and comparisons between him and MJ never stopped coming.  They have mutual respect, and the biggest proof of that came during the 2022 All-Star Game, where MJ and Bron embraced each other in Cleveland. James would post a big pic of his first and most recent encounter with Jordan, paying respect to the man that inspired him.  Just like the Los Angeles Lakers superstar has always shown his admiration for James, Jordan has done the same before. Back in 2020, during a press co...
Post a Comment
Read more