The Los Angeles Lakers have been under scrutiny as to why they traded Russell Westbrook in a three-team deal. However, the question is age-old, and everyone seems to have moved on from the situation. The Russell Westbrook trade was inevitable, looking at how the team performed in the league. Instead of getting used as a punching bag in LA, he was better off in some other team in the NBA. But the Lakers were often accused of leaving Russ in the dark when he needed them the most.
The whole mess was that the team did not have much depth in their squad because of the previous poor decisions. The Lakers’ front office has not been the best in the last two years until February. Changes made during this trade deadline were some of the best, which changed the outlook of this whole season for them. But it caused Russell Westbrook to move from the Lakers to different teams to find a place back in LA finally. Keep reading to find out what actually happened during that period.
Young Players Incoming, Russell Westbrook Outgoing
The Lakers were in urgent need of changes in the team if they wanted to save the season. And the fact that Westbrook’s contract was coming to an end acted as a bonus for the 2023 offseason. Therefore they were out there looking for another point guard who could bring them wins. According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, Initially, they had an option of a 35-year-old point guard Mike Conley. But the front office needed a younger and fiery point guard rather than an old, injury-prone player. And this is the reason why the addition of D’Angelo Russell happened much later than the other players.
Russell Westbrook 1st quarter had LeBron James shook 👀 pic.twitter.com/d9AzNqu2CR
— Beastbrook (@Beastbr00k0) April 6, 2023
Meanwhile, Westbrook was traded in a three-way deal to Minnesota Timberwolves. But they did not want his heft contract to take a toll on them and did not retain him for the long term. So they flipped him to Utah Jazz. Without playing a single game in these teams, he negotiated his buyout option from Utah to the Clippers. And apparently, he is much happier on that side of Los Angeles and playing his best game.
With Everything Going South, The Lakers Still Confident
On Wednesday night, when the Lakers were losing to their neighbors, coach Darvin Ham saw something that other players did not. He witnessed that even after a hectic back-to-back and injuries, his players were ready to give their all. That’s why his starters played until the end of the game’s final moments. In the interview, Ham said, “They want to put it on the line to make sure that we put ourselves to be as successful as we possibly can be… That’s the beautiful thing.”
James described the game in the post-game interview. “It’s one of the toughest games we’ve had this year,” said James. On the other hand, Anthony said he had seen better days than these, but he would be fine. All this suggests the motivation that the Lakers have to keep going further. But whether they will be able to sustain the action is a much bigger question here.
