The Los Angeles Lakers needed to address several issues in the offseason. For starters, they needed to find a new coach. Then, they needed to figure out their roster and what to do with Russell Westbrook.
Westbrook is expected to pick up his player option for next season and cash in a huge salary. Analysts predicted the Lakers would try and move him and could even waive him if they didn't find any suitors.
However, that no longer seems to be the case. New coach Darvin Ham is a big fan of Westbrook and recently claimed that he wants him to feel 'loved' and will be a huge part of the team next season.
NBA News: Darvin Ham Wants Westbrook To Feel Loved
"I want him to feel loved, I want him to feel comfortable," Ham said. "You gonna bring him off the bench you gonna do this, no none of that stuff matters... I need him to set the tone defensively... He said he's willing to do that. He's made it his own personal mission to be better defensively."
Westbrook Still Has A Lot Left In The Tank
“Don’t get it messed up. Russell is one of the best players our league has ever seen,” Ham said. “He still has a ton left in that tank. I don’t know why people tend to write him off. I’m going to approach him like every player I’ve ever encountered. We’re going to talk about our running habits with the ball, without the ball."
“But again, the team, the rhythm of the team, and trying to establish the rhythm with LeBron, Russ, AD. Again, share the load defensively and offensively. Defensively is where you’re going to see us make our biggest leaps and bounds. We have to commit to the defensive side of the ball or we don’t have a chance to do anything. The offense won’t even matter if we don’t get stops," the coach added.
That may not be what most fans wanted to hear. But that might as well be what's best for the Lakers, as they wouldn't be able to trade him anyway. Hopefully, this experiment will work better the second time around.
