Kyrie Irving trade speculation may have stopped (for now), but still los angeles lakersThe point guard drama is over.thursday lakers Acquired Veteran Defensive Plague Patrick Beverleyleading to speculation about the forward status of beleaguered 9-time All-Star Russell Westbrook.
It’s no secret that the Lakers have been considering a trade involving Westbrook for quite some time, with multiple reports suggesting that the Lakers include one or both of the available future first-round picks. With Irving off the table, it seemed plausible that the team would go into training camp with Westbrook as point guard. One Durbin Ham has already discussed: new offensive vision A former MVP case involving shooting more corner 3-pointers.
But the addition of Beverley again brings up questions about Westbrook’s future with the Lakers. In fact, with Beverley on the roster, it’s likely Westbrook won’t be on the Lakers’ court at all next season. According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic,Westbrook could be traded or simply kicked out of the team. Details from The Athletic:
“Beverley’s addition makes it more likely that Westbrook will be out of the active roster by the start of training camp. This could be a trade or the team that sent him home like the Rockets last season alongside John Wall. by either ” .”
Certainly traded. But the John Wall treatment? This is a scenario that has not been raised as a realistic possibility. Beverly is serviceable starting his points his guard and could add some grit to a Lakers defense that plummeted from his NBA-best in 2020-21 to No. 21 last season. According to Synergy Sports, Westbrook was one of the league’s most attacking players last season. His 0.844 points per possession put him second last among players with at least 1,000 possessions. Accepting a new role under Hamm, he could offer far more dynamism and offensive firepower than Beverly.
That said, SportsLine data scientist Steven Ohr predicts the Lakers will be significantly better in the 2022-23 season without Westbrook and without any pieces coming back in the trade. right.
|
with Westbrook |
45.4 |
66.1% |
8.8% |
4.8% |
|
no westbrook |
47.5 |
76.1% |
11.8% |
6.3% |
|
difference |
2.1 |
2.6% |
3.0% |
1.5% |
“Sim has a long history of seeing Westbrook as a case of addition and subtraction, going back to when OKC improved in a few games and Chris Paul and Houston got worse after the Westbrook trade,” explained Ohr. did.
The fact that the Lakers are willing to pay Westbrook $47 million speaks to the souring relationship between the two. Clearly, a trade is the preferred option — a deal involving rebuilding Miles Turner and Buddy Hield. Indiana Pacers Comes to mind — but it would almost certainly require the Lakers to give up at least one of their future picks.
So far, the Lakers had no intention of sacrificing their future to keep Westbrook off the roster. There will always be gender. Only time will tell, but it’s becoming more and more real that Westbrook isn’t the right fit for the Lakers to start the 2021-22 season.
