there is a team that is noticeably absent from the
postseason and that is the Los Angeles Lakers now they
brought in Russell Westbrook last offseason and it has not
worked with Lebron James and Anthony Davis, there's a
lot to unpack in L. A. Shawn.
So let's start with Russ and why it didn't work
and really, what's next for the brody? Yeah
, When you look at the fit of Russell Westbrook
with Lebron James and Anthony Davis, there was an
overwhelming confidence that Lebron James had that Russell Westbrook had
, Anthony Davis said that they would be able to
come together and make this work. And when you're
dealing with super super talented players, you deal with
some of that and you feel like as soon as
you put this squad together and you roll the ball
out guys will be able to figure out, figure
it out. Clearly it did not happen and did
not come so easy in L. A. This
year. And the fit with Russell Westbrook alongside Lebron
James, Anthony Davis just did not go as planned
. And so it's easy to point fingers and point
blame to Russell Westbrook. But I would look at
several other factors, you have the overall age on
the roster, you have injuries and Anthony Davis,
Lebron James overall spacing issues and then you also have
the coaching staff which never really could figure it all
out. So Russell Westbrook's decision, he has a
player option$47 million dollars for next season and I
would expect both sides to come together for more discussions
as this offseason continues to unfold to figure out,
is there a pathway towards either a trade home and
I'm told the indiana Pacers or a team to watch
, you're gonna have to find another team with multiple
big contracts, like the ones in indiana with Malcolm
Brogdon buddy healed Or another organization and see if there's
a match with Russell Westbrook who is on an expiring
contract for next year. So I would expect those
conversations to continue to pick up over the next several
weeks. Alright and Russ Lebron and AD in their
21 games that they played this season, which is
a very, very small sample size. They went
11 and 10. So, Pat, you heard
Shawn's bring up the name of the Indiana Pacers with
them and maybe other possible suitors. What do you
see out there that could trade for Russell Westbrook,
but then I need you to play both sides of
this, Pat, if you're on the other end
of that phone conversation, what are you looking for
from the Lakers to make a deal to bring Russ
in? Well, number one, from the Lakers
perspective, what you're looking to do is absolutely under
no circumstances compound the mistake you made last summer with
how you put this roster together. So that would
mean giving up future aspects, particularly something like really
lightly protected or an unprotected 2027 1st round pick,
you know, just to get off him. Um
and bringing in longer term money that that really doesn't
get you over that hump of championship contention and really
doesn't give you anything in the future. So I
think for the Lakers, uh, if I'm in
their shoes, I'm looking to stand Pat and not
come down for the mistakes and if you're on the
other end of the, of the telephone, uh
, you're a team that's at the beginning of a
rebuilding process, you have longer term money on your
books. Um What you're really looking to do then
is is you're not looking to bring Russell Westbrook in
to be any really part of your future. It's
, it's to extract assets from the Laker and to
potentially clean up your books. That's why indiana makes
a lot of sense when you look around the league
though, there really aren't a lot of other teams
. Maybe the Houston Rockets, um I can't see
a team like Detroit really doing that with the momentum
that they have around cade Cunningham and a potential top
three pick in this draft and young players. So
um the pickings are really slim. I mean there's
always Oklahoma city, but that doesn't really seem like
uh you know, a situation where where they really
need to get any more pics. So it's gonna
be tough shopping I think for the Lakers and I
can just see them having to be patient with the
situation and Pat a really big name that's looking for
answers and this is a huge name in Laker Land
is magic johnson. Now the legend came out not
too long ago and put this on Lebron saying they
could have had the Martha Rosen and kept Alex Caruso
, but Lebron pushed for Westbrook. So Pat,
how would you try to build around Lebron James and
Anthony Davis? Because this was the third worst team
in the N. B. A. An opponent's
points per game and also the sixth worst and opponents
rebounds. Well number one if they're able to move
Westbrook and get some contracts, if that potentially are
unattractive to other teams but can help them next year
in exchange for maybe going out years that the Lakers
might want. Um that that could be a helpful
scenario. I think the indiana trade is one potential
avenue absent that though. I think the focus really
has to be on the defense event when they won
the championship. They were one of the best defensive
teams in the league and with Anthony Davis and Lebron
James missing as many games as they have. They
they have to find a way to contain teams when
either of those two guys are out and just be
competitive and get to the end of the season in
the playoffs when they have those two guys healthy.
So I think that means looking at rim protection,
wing defenders and guys not necessarily scores but can at
least space the floor and defend off the dribble