The Los Angeles Lakers have some major decisions to make after one of their worst NBA seasons in recent years. The team has to fill in the head coaching vacancy, and also needs to find ways to improve its roster.
While Rob Pelinka seems to have taken a huge step in the search of Frank Vogel’s successor, the front office has yet to decide what will happen with Russell Westbrook. Since he moved to LA, Brodie was nowhere near the MVP kind of player he once was.
His future is one of the most intriguing topics in the league. Many would think the Lakers would be better without him, but his departure won’t come cheap. Even so, Marc Stein believes the team might do whatever it takes just to get off to a fresh start.
Rumor: Lakers prefer to move on Russell Westbrook to create fresh environment
In his latest Substack, Stein claims that, while the Lakers make plans like Westbrook is staying next season, the teamdoesn’trule out his exit. If he stays, it would be hard to create a ‘fresh-start’ environment.
“While the Lakers have indeed asked coaches they’ve interviewed in recent weeks how they would manage a roster that still features Westbrook, that’s not to say L.A. has already decided to bring the former All-Star guard back for the final season remaining (at a tidy $47 million) on his current contract,” Stein said.
“The Lakers won’t rule that out, because they would naturally prefer to avoid trades that require them to inject a future first-round pick to push the deal through, but they also know that the fresh-start atmosphere they hope to create when training camp begins in September will be extremely difficult to foster if Westbrook is still on the roster. I, for one, still struggle to imagine a scenario where Westbrook starts next season as a Laker — even if that means releasing him or trying to hash out some sort of buyout.”
Normally, the Lakers would probably admit this move didn’t work out as expected and move on. But there are not many trade partners on the horizon and moving Westbrook could also imply to include first-round picks. The Lakers have to take everything into consideration, as this is not just a minor decision for their future.