Russell Westbrick Discussion: Clipper Gonna Clip

yeah, we should have moved THT for lowry and been able to completely avoid russ. oh well. that said, miami's playing without lowry in the playoffs, so it wouldn't have mattered too much in the grand scheme.

i do worry that it seems we're going to have trouble offloading russ this summer, so if lowry was really done, it would be the same issue next year. and i think duncan robinson is a really bad contract, among the worst in the league.

 

My only positive spin there is that he's a (slumping) specialist at the current premium skill in the league and his salary is on par with his contemporaries whether they're struggling or succeeding (Buddy and Bertans for example). Until the league pivots, I think you'll always be able to move someone who has a reputation as a shooter. He's under 30, it's very easy to talk yourself into you being the team with the cure to his yips.

I think you can move a shooter easier then a big with a skill set like Gobert.

 

yeah, but i think the league has since corrected after briefly overpaying these guys, if that makes sense. nobody's going to pay those prices after seeing how bertans and robinson (and hield) have fared.

 

That's true. I would be banking on a team always needing to reach their salary floor. As long as there is a "plan" or "process" from teams like Philly or currently OKC, a smart GM should be able to find a dance partner if it's a skill that a cheap team knows it can sit on until a team has a need for that skill. Whether that GM is Rob is another discussion.


To pivot a little, Stein had a small update on Russ... more so just his opinion

 

This is what happens when you appease to players wants, wishes and desires. Front office folks should do what's best for NOW and THE LONG TERM FUTURE as they have an eagle eye's view from the top. That Westbrook trade WRECKED the Lakers both short and long term.

I have a hard time believing the guy who loves stacking the deck with super teams did not push for Russ to be here. This is all on Lebron for ruining the franchise.

 

One extremely bad contract for two bad ones.

 

yeah, i see that, too. i just think we would have been a better team with lowry, and much more watchable. and THT's value just tanked, so we would have been selling high (as opposed to what i thought at the time).

but it can change.

 

From the Athletic article from Shams and Amick that just came out regarding our coaching finalists

 

yeah, i don't think it's just smoke to raise his trade value. i think they're seriously considering bringing him back.

 

of course he's coming back

no one wants him and god knows no team is going to go out of their way to help the lakers

 

You know what's crazy?

Atkinson is heavy into analytics. I believe Stotts is, too. Idk how much Ham utilizes it, but I'm sure he does.

All three have fundamentally coached or have been apart of systems that prefer to spread the floor and and operate with optimum spacing. .

Westbrook's finishing had gotten better throughout the season, but his analytics? Lol.

I just don't know how that will work itself out.

 

I still think Charlotte might be the best trade partner for the Lakers, where we trade Westbrook for Hayward and Rozier or Kelly Oubre. Michael Jordan is on good terms with Jeanie Buss (don’t they own a tequila company together?) and Kupchak is back and he doesn’t seem like the type to put spite/ego on making a trade that makes sense. So with a friendly trade partner, we can potentially offload a expiring contract for 2 bad contracts but solid starting caliber players. We might not even have to include our draft picks.


I personally would prefer a Indiana deal and try to get both Hield and Brogdon for Westbrook, but the Indiana GM/President Kevin Pritchard hates the Lakers and will only do a deal with the Lakers if he feels like he’s fleecing us (see the history of Pritchard and when we were trying to get Paul George vis trade). In all likelihood, the draft pick will need to be included for Indiana to seriously consider any trade with the Lakers.

That being said, the pick would be the deal breaker and ultimately the Charlotte trade is the better option if they are up for it. Brogdon is better than Rozier, but the talent gap is not substantial and it could be argued both are at about the same level and Rozier is the healthier player. Similarly Hayward vs Hield are different players, and Haywards better when he’s healthy… but that’s a big if. However the benefits of Hield over Hayward is he’s younger, less injury prone, and a better 3 point threat.

In any case…. Westbrook cannot be part of the Lakers by training camp if you want even a possibility of a good season.

 

Theoretically, the more time they play together the better their chemistry and on-court results should be.

I am ok with bringing Russ back and running it back if Ham/Stotts are involved

 

Westbrook is not getting traded before the season starts, and most likely wont be traded at all IMO. None of the current trade ideas fit with what "team sources" have said isn't acceptable in a trade. 1.No draft pick involved 2. Not taking back an injury risk on a multi year deal. That kills every potential deal that I've seen so far. AD says the big 3 didn't play enough together to work it out, and the media and fans are unfairly blaming Westbrook. Lebron says that the team only needs to make some minor tweaks and have some good health. Trading Russell Westbrook is not a "minor tweak". Jeannie said that she couldn't judge the team at all ,without actually seeing the "team envisioned" play. Of course the team is asking HC candidates about how they would use Westbrook, we don't plan on trading Westbrook. The idea that we are going to waive or stretch Russ, was always ridiculous and has been panned. The free agent class next summer is robust, there are some good players on the last year of their deals going into this season. That 47 million in cap space is too big of an asset moving forward, to just give it away for some bad trade idea, because we just need to dump Westbrook. I don't see it happening unless there is some disgruntled superstar, that has quietly asked out somewhere, that don't we don't know about yet. AD and Lebron healthy is undefeated in a playoff series, we'd do better to hold our cards and see how they look this season first.

 

Dumpster fire all over again if RussBrick returns. You will never have a winning team with two out of your five starters not playing even League average defense.

 

Stotts made CJ and Dame work even though they’re terrible defensively. We would need to provide shooters in the starting unit that could offset the spacing issues of Westbrook and AD. So a big SG and a stretch 5.

The issue is going to be to have Lebron play a bit more off ball when he is sharing time with Westbrook. And a way to improve Westbrook’s cutting when he is playing off ball, like Houston did. It’s all theoretically possible and there is past proof of it being run successfully.

To me Stotts is a good option to get this team clicking offensively.

 

If Westbrook comes back, you can kiss any chance of a title next year, goodbye. Just know this and don't go nuts during the season when he is missing defensive coverage on last second shots over and over again.

Westbrook effect cost the Lakers 9 games from the previous season. That is 11% of 82 games played where he turned into Ls. He likely cost the Lakers more when you factor in his horrid defensive close outs and team defense. Bad shooting decisions and s***ty attitude.

 

yeah, i REALLY hated just about everything russ brought last year. he should be embarrassed, but he's not, and i hate that, too.

that said, we may be left with even worse options. you simply can't throw good money after bad, sprinkling russ with unprotected 1sts just to get him out the door.

when the knicks shot us down for their bad long-term deals, i lost some confidence that we'd be able to move him before next year--at least for anything that would help us.

 

I just don't see us winning a title with Westbrook here. Sure, a new coach could get us to the playoffs, but Russ will still hold us back enough when it matters most. If he is on the roster next year we are essentially punting another year. Get what you can and move on.