AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
Sources close to the Los Angeles Lakers reportedly struggle to see the organization keeping guard Russell Westbrook beyond this season.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, there has been “defiance” from Westbrook behind the scenes when approached by coaches or teammates this season regarding the subject of changing his role or approach.
One source told Stein it would be “impossible” for the Lakers and Westbrook to co-exist next season given the amount of tension between them.
In an effort to find a third star to play alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers acquired Westbrook during the offseason in a trade that sent Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Washington Wizards.
Westbrook is a nine-time All-Star, two-time scoring champion, one-time NBA MVP and future Hall of Famer, but he simply hasn’t fit in with the Lakers.
The 33-year-old veteran has struggled to the tune of 18.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game in 61 appearances, while also shooting just 43.3 percent from the field and 28.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Westbrook’s scoring average is his lowest since 2009-10, which was his second NBA season with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Ball security has been an issue for Westbrook as well with 3.9 turnovers per game.
While the Lakers would almost certainly like to move on from Westbrook during the offseason, it figures to be a complicated matter.
Technically, Westbrook could become a free agent during the offseason if he declines his player option for 2022-23, but it is difficult to envision him doing that since opting in would give him a $47 million salary for next season.
Westbrook wouldn’t get anything close to that on the free-agent market, so all signs point to him opting in.
If that happens, finding a trade market would likely be difficult unless the Lakers take on multiple bad contracts in return.
The other option would be to buy Westbrook out, but that would cost the Lakers heavily against the salary cap in subsequent years.
There is no easy way for the Lakers and Westbrook to split up, but the partnership clearly hasn’t worked for either side, and it would behoove them to move on from each other.
