The Los Angeles Lakers made one of the boldest, yet more controversial moves in recent NBA history. They traded away most of their depth to get their hands on Russell Westbrook, one of the most polarizing figures around the league.
Rob Pelinka did an outstanding job of filling the void that the Westbrook trade left. He signed multiple veterans on cheap deals to round up the roster, adding the shooters the team needed for a while.
But, even so, some people believe that Westbrook’s fit next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis is simply bad. There will be little-to-no spacing when they’re all on the floor, and that could hurt their chances come playoff time.
Jalen Rose Says Westbrook Will Keep The Lakers Afloat
Then again, former NBA player Jalen Rose believes that Westbrook will have a huge impact on this team, mostly because we know that LeBron and Davis will miss time due to load management or injury:
“Solely because of their age, they’ll likely not have a number 1/2 seed,” the Michigan standout said. “AD gets injured, they get bounced in the first round. This is where you add Russ though. Put the ages back up there. This is the main reason why you have Russ. Because having him, he don’t play his age, not during the regular season (…)He is gonna be putting super-sized triple-doubles, especially when their #1 and#2 LeBron or AD is out. And if both of them are out, Russ can win player of the week that week.”
Westbrook is one of the most explosive players of all time. He’s a walking triple-double machine and a guy that can single-handedly lead a team to success in the regular season, we’ve seen that happen multiple times throughout his career.
The big question mark is whether he’ll be able to defer some shots and responsibility come playoff time, especially in the clutch. But he already knows what it’s like to play next to other superstars.
