Lakers Asking Prospective Coaches How They Plan To Maximize Russell Westbrook

[RealGM Wiretap]

The Los Angeles Lakers are preparing for the possibility of retaining Russell Westbrook for the 22-23 season.

Sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic that prospective coaches have been asked how they would use Westbrook in their system. The takeaway for the coaches has been that maximizing the play of Westbrook is considered an important part of the job.

Westbrook has one season remaining on his contract and trading him would prove difficult without attaching additional compensation to him.

Phil Jackson, who is consulting the Lakers, is known to have an affinity for Westbrook. The Lakers have believed that Frank Vogel didn't put Westbrook in a strong enough position to succeed last season.

Via Sam Amick/The Athletic

[ShazamDaShiznt]

Well of course they would ask this kind of question. They are stuck with him, nobody wants this guy other than I guess a random tanking team using him to sell more tickets while playing for a lottery ping pong balls.

[tigerae]

Well of course they would ask this kind of question. They are stuck with him, nobody wants this guy other than I guess a random tanking team using him to sell more tickets while playing for a lottery ping pong balls.

With his expiring contract, I could actually see some teams willing to trade for him to get some cap relief next season or have the ability to do a complete rebuild.


I heard the Hornets were interested. I'm sure some other teams who are in that limbo spot might be as well, not good enough to be a contender but not bad enough to get top picks either.

[dougthonus]

How do you plan to maximize Russell Westbrook?
A: I plan to play him 15 minutes a game as a bench player because he no longer helps a team win as a primary starter.

[dougthonus]

Well of course they would ask this kind of question. They are stuck with him, nobody wants this guy other than I guess a random tanking team using him to sell more tickets while playing for a lottery ping pong balls.

With his expiring contract, I could actually see some teams willing to trade for him to get some cap relief next season or have the ability to do a complete rebuild.


I heard the Hornets were interested. I'm sure some other teams who are in that limbo spot might be as well, not good enough to be a contender but not bad enough to get top picks either.

If I were the Hornets, I'd rather have Hayward than Westbrook even given the contracts, but it's a trash for trash trade either way. Charlotte has no other bad salary to toss in the deal, and the move only saves them 13M over two seasons (and costs them 17M more this year) to take on a worse player.

What team has 40M in bad salary they want to unload that the Lakers would be willing to take to improve their situation? That seems like an unlikely fit for anyone.

[TheGameWinner]

It's easy. Start him to massage his ego. Sub him out after 4 minutes depending on how he is doing. Stagger him when Bron is going and ask him to attack. If he doesn't, he doesn't get PT. Don't need a passer/rebounder, need him to act as a scorer (not a corner spot up shooter).

[kenwood3333]

Keep him on the injury list.

[tigerae]

It's easy. Start him to massage his ego. Sub him out after 4 minutes depending on how he is doing. Stagger him when Bron is going and ask him to attack. If he doesn't, he doesn't get PT. Don't need a passer/rebounder, need him to act as a scorer (not a corner spot up shooter).

I feel like AD trying to handle the ball and shoot 3s (at a horrid 18% to boot) really threw a wrench in the team's system and in to Russ being effective. The blueprint really is simple. Use a very similar offense as the Heat had with LBJ, Wade and Bosh. AD has no business handling the ball or shooting 3s. Stay in the post to open things for LBJ and Russ, create lanes for both to drive and kick. Surround them with 2 quality 3pt shooters and your set. Stop switching everything on defense. Only do it situational otherwise trap, show and go back, etc.

[Cassius]

If I were the Hornets, I'd rather have Hayward than Westbrook even given the contracts, but it's a trash for trash trade either way. Charlotte has no other bad salary to toss in the deal, and the move only saves them 13M over two seasons (and costs them 17M more this year) to take on a worse player.

What team has 40M in bad salary they want to unload that the Lakers would be willing to take to improve their situation? That seems like an unlikely fit for anyone.

The matching salary I've seen proposed is either Oubre or Graham. The problem is really AD, who should be a full-time C but is too brittle and shaky a shooter.

[madmaxmedia]

Well of course they would ask this kind of question. They are stuck with him, nobody wants this guy other than I guess a random tanking team using him to sell more tickets while playing for a lottery ping pong balls.

With his expiring contract, I could actually see some teams willing to trade for him to get some cap relief next season or have the ability to do a complete rebuild.


I heard the Hornets were interested. I'm sure some other teams who are in that limbo spot might be as well, not good enough to be a contender but not bad enough to get top picks either.

If I were the Hornets, I'd rather have Hayward than Westbrook even given the contracts, but it's a trash for trash trade either way. Charlotte has no other bad salary to toss in the deal, and the move only saves them 13M over two seasons (and costs them 17M more this year) to take on a worse player.

What team has 40M in bad salary they want to unload that the Lakers would be willing to take to improve their situation? That seems like an unlikely fit for anyone.

I think the Lakers could find a trade for a better player, but the sacrifice would be cap flexibility in a year.

If Lebron stays, then trading WB for a better player but longer contract is plausible scenario because with Lebron and AD's contracts they wouldn't have cap space for signings anyway.So flip WB for whatever you can, they would at least make the playoffs.

OTOH if Lebron is gone after this upcoming season, they will only have AD's contract (plus some other minor stuff) and could pursue a big FA to play alongside AD. They just have play out the season with Westbrook.

The worst case scenario would be to trade Westbrook for say a Hayward package, and then Lebron leaves next offseason. Lakers then are capped out with a Hayward/AD combo leading the team. I don't mean to say Hayward is bad, but the overall team outlook at that point would be pretty grim for multiple reasons.

[Rek]

It's easy. Start him to massage his ego. Sub him out after 4 minutes depending on how he is doing. Stagger him when Bron is going and ask him to attack. If he doesn't, he doesn't get PT. Don't need a passer/rebounder, need him to act as a scorer (not a corner spot up shooter).

I feel like AD trying to handle the ball and shoot 3s (at a horrid 18% to boot) really threw a wrench in the team's system and in to Russ being effective. The blueprint really is simple. Use a very similar offense as the Heat had with LBJ, Wade and Bosh. AD has no business handling the ball or shooting 3s. Stay in the post to open things for LBJ and Russ, create lanes for both to drive and kick. Surround them with 2 quality 3pt shooters and your set. Stop switching everything on defense. Only do it situational otherwise trap, show and go back, etc.

Yep. Would be just lovely if someone would remind homey that he's not a friggin PG anymore...

[madmaxmedia]

It would be really interesting to sit in on these conversation and see what answers they get. I imagine they would hear a wide range of answers, from Westbrook is cooked and can't be a main cog on a significant playoff team, to guys promising that they're gonna somehow blend Westbrook's strengths with Lebron and AD and create some wonderful synergy.

Then the question is which answer the Laker FO chooses to believe.

[alienpick]

I year left... big salary... that's easy to move. Lots of teams would love to dump salary with that contract

[Pickled Prunes]

It's easy. Start him to massage his ego. Sub him out after 4 minutes depending on how he is doing. Stagger him when Bron is going and ask him to attack. If he doesn't, he doesn't get PT. Don't need a passer/rebounder, need him to act as a scorer (not a corner spot up shooter).

I feel like AD trying to handle the ball and shoot 3s (at a horrid 18% to boot) really threw a wrench in the team's system and in to Russ being effective. The blueprint really is simple. Use a very similar offense as the Heat had with LBJ, Wade and Bosh. AD has no business handling the ball or shooting 3s. Stay in the post to open things for LBJ and Russ, create lanes for both to drive and kick. Surround them with 2 quality 3pt shooters and your set. Stop switching everything on defense. Only do it situational otherwise trap, show and go back, etc.

Yep. Would be just lovely if someone would remind homey that he's not a friggin PG anymore...

AD shot 1.75 3pts per game this season. That's his lowest number since 2014-15. He was 349th in the NBA in 3PA. His USG% was also his lowest since 2013-14. Bosch shot almost twice as may 3pts with the Heat and they were constantly pushing him to shoot more. The Lakers are trying to use AD like Bosch and it isn't working!

The solution is to stagger Westbrook and Lebron and to actually put shooters around both of them.... but they have no money, so they won't and it will fail. While on the court together they need to play PnR with Lebron setting the pick. That's nearly unstoppable... but Lebron won't buy in so they will fail.

All of their best 3pt shooters were under 6-4 or named Melo.
AD, Melo, Westbrook and two small guards will get cooked most days, even if the offense is rolling.

[dougthonus]

I think the Lakers could find a trade for a better player, but the sacrifice would be cap flexibility in a year.

If Lebron stays, then trading WB for a better player but longer contract is plausible scenario because with Lebron and AD's contracts they wouldn't have cap space for signings anyway.So flip WB for whatever you can, they would at least make the playoffs.

Who is that player? Hayward is a good example, but if I'm Charlotte I would say no. I can't come up with a better player that fits this.

OTOH if Lebron is gone after this upcoming season, they will only have AD's contract (plus some other minor stuff) and could pursue a big FA to play alongside AD. They just have play out the season with Westbrook.

The worst case scenario would be to trade Westbrook for say a Hayward package, and then Lebron leaves next offseason. Lakers then are capped out with a Hayward/AD combo leading the team. I don't mean to say Hayward is bad, but the overall team outlook at that point would be pretty grim for multiple reasons.

If I'm the Lakers, I would view LeBron as entirely irrelevant at this point. Expecting to have LeBron play meaningfully beyond one year is probably a poor assumption. He's already shown to be considerably slowed and more and more brittle. Might get one more magical year out of him, but that's about it.

[ozthegap]

Someone convince the wizards to sign and trade Beal for Westbrook. They need to scrap their **** show and start over. Westbrook can captain the tank for a year

[saloonyk8]

Someone convince the wizards to sign and trade Beal for Westbrook. They need to scrap their **** show and start over. Westbrook can captain the tank for a year

Why would the wizards do that? To get a 2027 pick? They can get a lot better options other than Westbrook

[LilLeeroy]

"With all due respect, you need to let Russ be Russ. I would run as many iso post-ups with Russ as I possibly could."-Mark Jackson

[ozthegap]

Someone convince the wizards to sign and trade Beal for Westbrook. They need to scrap their **** show and start over. Westbrook can captain the tank for a year

Why would the wizards do that? To get a 2027 pick? They can get a lot better options other than Westbrook

Don’t leave ‘em an option. Have Lebron and AD convince Beal to demand it. Also the Wizards ownership are pretty stupid. It might not take much convincing

[madmaxmedia]

I think the Lakers could find a trade for a better player, but the sacrifice would be cap flexibility in a year.

If Lebron stays, then trading WB for a better player but longer contract is plausible scenario because with Lebron and AD's contracts they wouldn't have cap space for signings anyway.So flip WB for whatever you can, they would at least make the playoffs.

Who is that player? Hayward is a good example, but if I'm Charlotte I would say no. I can't come up with a better player that fits this.

OTOH if Lebron is gone after this upcoming season, they will only have AD's contract (plus some other minor stuff) and could pursue a big FA to play alongside AD. They just have play out the season with Westbrook.

The worst case scenario would be to trade Westbrook for say a Hayward package, and then Lebron leaves next offseason. Lakers then are capped out with a Hayward/AD combo leading the team. I don't mean to say Hayward is bad, but the overall team outlook at that point would be pretty grim for multiple reasons.

If I'm the Lakers, I would view LeBron as entirely irrelevant at this point. Expecting to have LeBron play meaningfully beyond one year is probably a poor assumption. He's already shown to be considerably slowed and more and more brittle. Might get one more magical year out of him, but that's about it.

I agree on the basketball side, but his overall worth is higher because he's still one of the NBA's biggest stars and he still produces at a high level (even if his impact is not as it used to be.) I always figured if both sides see that he is going to leave next offseason, best thing Lakers could do is trade him now, and get some assets back for the rebuilding process. They could make up for what's still outgoing in the AD trade.