Russell Westbrick Discussion: Clipper Gonna Clip

yeah, what kind of message does this send to the rest of the team? attention to detail and effort on defense is only for people who make less than 30 million per? i'm glad they sat him for defensive purposes, because that's been by far the most disappointing thing about him this year.

 

What’s sad about turning the season around right here right now?




But

 

You figure: if the FO gave the green light to Vogel to bench Russ, they know how dire the situation is with the team but with particularly with Russ.

Rob has and will try to do anything he can to move him this summer, IMO.

Will he succeed? No clue. At the very least, I expect a reduced role if he's back.

Additionally, if you need more time to explore the Russ/AD/LBJ pairing, well probably have 20 or so games to look @ it.

Although, I doubt it works.

We will see.

 

I thought moving Russ going into this summer would be easier since he's a giant expiring contract and the team trading for him would be getting cap relief next summer, but it's looking like we'll have to attach additionally the 2027 1st pick at a minimum.

We're so ******

 

Narrator - "Vogel was not able to maximize our guys and keep us solid on that end."

 

i was scared for us since the 1st time i heard of Westbrook trade rumors

 

In my defense, my earlier thoughts were based on the assumption that guys would play with heart and effort.

 

this and actually play defense

if this team was good defensively, they'd be a title contender because scoring isn't the problem like it was last season. but when you lose two of your best defensive players in KCP and caruso and bring in the corpse of trevor ariza instead, it's not going to be pretty. johnson's been good, but he can only do so much himself

 

At this point, I’m not sure if I pull the trigger on including the 2027 pick just to dump Russ (or at all really).

Say we dump Westbrook’s contract for nothing this summer… well we still don’t have real cap room to sign anyone beyond MLE/minimum signings. We still don’t have any real assets on the roster to improve via trade. Regardless of what we do with Russ, next year we’re likely still in the middle of the pack at best. I believe Lebron would be on pace to beat Kareem’s record next year while he’s in a Laker uniform, so likely books it after that once his contract expires to go play with Bronny.

So it’s not that I don’t want to get rid of Russ… I really do. But I think regardless, we’re on the verge of going through another dark time period where we’ll be forced to actually rebuild.

That 2027 pick may very well be a #1 overall pick…

 

this is why i keep saying our best bet is actually signing him to a longer deal--again on the condition that he accepts a bench role. free agency looks kinda weak the next couple years, too, so missing out isn't the end of the world.

 

I hate being right on this. When I watched the press conference after he was traded here, I had some glimmer of hope that maybe this wouldn't be a train wreck. But as soon as preseason started and he was awful, that tiny glimmer of hope was dead.

It just confounds me that we did this considering he was awful in the bubble. We all saw it and yet Lebron, Pelinka and the Rambii thought this made sense. This was basically hubris. He won't suck with us they thought. We're the Lakers, we'll make a square peg fit into a round hole. Arrogance. Well players don't generally improve once their athleticism declines and unlike others who pick up skills to mitigate declining athletically (IE Rondo and the set 3 point shot), Russ has actually managed to lose skill.

 

If russ isn’t changing his game, he’s not accepting the bench role come FA. His value is going to come next year as an expiring at 47m.

I hope we don’t have to give up any picks and there’s a team desperate to get rid of contracts.


He’s gonna look for something in the FA. Reality is going to hit and get rid of any illusions of grandeur.

That one dunk, hitting 4 threes early as much as I want to love it isnt enough to excuse his play, effort and behavior the entire season. Let alone his off handed comments about being in la, Magic and it’s not all about basketball. When he’s in LA, as an LA native playing for the purple and gold. That’s just blasphemy.


This man is not laker material nor would he ever be. This reminds me of circa Dwight Howard 2013 with a little less delusion.


The offense is always better when he’s off the floor and we are lying to ourselves if we don’t cringe at the thought of when Russ is coming back to the floor to ruin whatever momentum we have.


Even if he plays well, the fact the he stops the ball like he’s the heir to the mamba is just ridiculous.

Look at monk that’s the type play Russ should be executing .


Instead he wants to do some non-sense dibbling for 6 seconds and pull up or post his defender all the way to the basket only to get blocked by the rim or a turn over due to his inability to make a simple pass.


At times it seems intentional, as crazy as it sounds. Nobody can play that terrible.



he’s been playing OK as of late but Vogel benching him should’ve happened in November.


Edit: lol cleaned it up a bit. My grammar is horrible, sorry.

 

right on the money, I was never a Russ fan from day one.


But as the all star appearances , triple doubles, that one finals run. Lol I had friends crapping all over me

 

@Juronimo was spot on when we first acquired him. Inbox me with which lotto numbers I need to use.

 

Me last summer when rumors of our interest in Simmons and Westbrook popped up; “LOL, no way, obviously such a bad fit!”

Me a few weeks later right after we actually traded for Westbrook: “OMG YAY, THIRD STAR! TITLE #18 ON THE WAY!”

Me now: “Uh, any way we can get Simmons instead?”

Unfortunately for many of us, including myself, being a Laker fan is like being in a cult. We will often do mental gymnastics to convince ourselves we have a shot and that we made the right move. I recall going into the seasons having hope, even when we were like in the Jeremy Lin/Carlos Boozer eras…

 

Lol we would have a top 3 record of the league by now, not kidding

 

I'm sure Russ still doesn't get it and now feels righteously "dissed" and Vogel has probably lost Russ, since he feels he has already sacrificed so much for the team. You can't fix stoopid.

 

Yea I would go ahead and just bench him if he's going to pout.

 

I think it would be good to have a closed doors team and coaching staff meeting where everyone can speak and air out frustrations including the coaches. Couldn't hurt. Unless it gets leaked and twisted per however each person reporting it wants to twist it.