Did Moving Russell Westbrook to the Bench Save the Los Angeles Lakers’ Season? | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

You probably know better by now than wondering if one move or tweak could reinvent the 2022-23 Los Angeles Lakers. That said, we’re still in the experiment with only 3 games, so we have to ask ourselves the following questions.

Could Russell Westbrook’s move save the team’s season?

Going into Friday night’s game against the Utah Jazz, nothing is certain. And no single game is the final benchmark. But raising this issue is a breath of fresh air for organizations that have spent the past year making changes while suffocating a thick, acidic smog that has derailed their decision-making.

These Lakers stories cannot be told through a single plot line. Westbrook, then and now, is easy to focus on. But this team was more than an obstacle posed by his awkward fit and huge salary, and both.

Really, that’s the problem.

Early season losses and trade speculation, missed 3s, deciphering body language, injury concerns, Dissatisfaction with the front officeWestbrook’s trades and tweaks, however improbable, could not save them. They were, and still are, compound variable problems.

Still, taking Westbrook off the bench was always a welcome stopgap and an adjustment the Lakers could make without overhauling their roster or future draft equity. They eventually went that route after Westbrook missed the game with a hamstring injury.

And now the demotion looks like a promotion for everyone involved.

AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

As a starter in the first three games of the season, westbrook average Recorded 10.3 points and 4.3 assists, and reduced 38.5% of his two shots (10/26) and 8.3% of his 3s (1-12). The Lakers scored a total of 16 points in his 86 minutes. starting unit He had -8.8 points per 100 possessions and an offensive rating of 75.

Westbrook came on as a substitute in three games. he is average He scored 16.3 points and 6.7 assists on 51.9% of his two shots (14/27) and 33.3% of his 3s (4-of-12). Meanwhile, the Lakers are trailing by 22 total points in his 90 minutes, his second best result on the team.

Best little sample theater? perhaps.and it’s not all good.

Anthony Davis missed Los Angeles’ loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 28, but his new preferred starter in five starts with Troy Brown Jr. won by 6 points At 17 minutes, missed all threes (0-5) and posted a pedestrian aggressive rating (105.3) goes along with the dreaded ERA (127.8). This could be a smaller sample theater. It’s not great either.

But what immediately matters is that the Lakers may have found a way to optimize Westbrook.

Moving him out of the starting lineup and especially surprising LeBron James created a big wrinkle. LeBron knows how to take advantage of himself off the ball. It has never been Westbrook’s strength. And it never made sense to kick LeBron off the ball in favor of Russ. Because any solution that relies on underestimating GOAT candidates who are still playing at star level is not a solution at all.

Increasing Westbrook’s independence is a smarter move. This allows him to operate naturally on the ball and have more impact on attack.

His off-the-bench usage already confirms this.he stopped averaging 26.4 Frontcourt Touch per 36 minutes up to 31.6His drives per 36 minutes have risen as well, from 13.8 all the way up to 17.6.

Westbrook’s inside finish is still prone to bad luck, but he traded out two-mid for more point-blank looks. 66.7 percent Many of his looks fall within the restricted area. Up to 42.1and he has taken only one total non-RA shot in the paint in the last 90 minutes.

Moving Westbrook to the bench is, broadly speaking, 3 minutes less per game Time he spends with LeBron (down 17.5) from 20.4). It’s not a big deal.

Beyond that, the Lakers are still trying to wrap their heads around a torrent of other issues.

crime as a whole 24th in points per possession with this stretch Shooting only 33.7% From deep outer garbage time (17th). Both are considered improvements, but half-hearted progress is not an achievement worth appreciating.

It looks like Kendrick Nunn is already out of the rotation. Anthony Davis is playing through a back injury that has visibly affected his possession movement at one time. This team relies heavily on Lonnie Walker IV and LeBron who has him recording over 36 minutes per game. Both are uncomfortable realities at best.

Westbrook’s conundrum in Los Angeles didn’t suddenly go away, either. Head his coach Durbingham continued to pull off Patrick his Beverley to cap off his victory in New Orleans on November 2 against the Pelicans.and the lakers yet We needed an end-of-regulation hero from —*check notes*—Matt Ryan forced overtime with that win.

of Mitsuboshi Minutes was fruitful in this short stretch. lebron russ dynamicBut whether the trend continues depends on Brown and Ryan and Walker and Austin Reeves working together to create enough space for the stars’ aggressive sentiment to surface. It’s not a risk-free proposition.

This begs the overarching question: how good are these Lakers’ most optimized versions, anyway?

Not unfair, but “not sure yet,” is the charity’s answer. A more honest and fair response would be, “I’m not good enough to deal with the Western elite.”

AP Photo/Ron Schwain

All of this always raises another, equally difficult question.If this is really the comeback of quasi-Russell Westbrook, what are the Lakers up to?

His salary is so high ($47.1 million) and his fit is so complicated that playing better won’t make him tradeable. mosquito?

That the Lakers could get a better return on his deal? Unlikely. Don’t you have to bankrupt the entire draft pick fund to make him move? yeah nice

Lowering the opportunity cost of doing business with him doesn’t magically change the scenarios available. It also doesn’t protect them from better offers for someone they’re circling.

Thinking this way is ultimately counter-intuitive. Taking Westbrook off the bench won’t fix the Lakers from the inside or make it easier to reform themselves from the outside.

But what it’s done is give them time and potential, a chance to self-explore and wait for issues in and out of their control without necessarily wasting the rest of the season.

And that’s a lot more hope than these Lakers had before.

Unless otherwise noted, statistics are NBA.com, basketball reference, stat head Also glass cleaning Precisely go into Friday’s game.Salary information spot rack.

Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale) and hardwood knock A podcast co-hosted by Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes.