Russell Westbrick Discussion: Clipper Gonna Clip

I’ll miss you guys next season if this fool is still on the team.

 

I agree that this was show off. I mean, he was the only player there. Why was that?
But we are doing the right thing and not giving him the Ben treatment.

As ugly as Bertans contract is, he actually fits AD as a spacing big. But he doesn't defend or gets boards so meh... it's a lot of years

I think we could see this from other perspective. It's also the last year of his contract. If it's a bust, he would go to straight years with different coaches and playing with 2 of the best in the game without any success. Actually being THE cancer. Who's gonna give him a multi-year contract after that?

I think there's a lot on the plate here and this 6 month off period may be beneficial. I hate him and honestly hope he's not on the squad, but there's some hope that if we hold on to him, we can actually get a good trade out of it during the season.
I just hope that if he shows he does not commit, we have the balls to bench him or sit him the rest of the season. I'm leaning towards if we don't get good players in return (Rozier, Brogdon or wtv), we could play the long game AS LONG AS we cut him off if he shows the same character from last year. The way Darvin and Rob approached it, it gave me some hope.

I mean, when they were both asked about Westbrook and they answered around commitment and defense. Which means they think the problem was both lack of commitment and defense (which is exactly what we have seen). I don't think you would go with Ham if you didn't had a long term plan for the franchise so I think we wouldn't tank it just because we don't want to hurt Russ career. I like how we're handling it so far

 

I noticed that Darvin made a point of saying that he's had multiple conversations with Westbrook already, about role and expectations. Russ said that he never had a single conversation like that with Vogel after the trade or during training camp. He also made the point about preserving Lebron, and minimizing the wear and tear. If James is going to be giving up the rock more moving forward, who is he supposed to give up to? Avery? He finished up with the need for Anthony to be playing MVP caliber ball and being healthy. Sounds like he praised them all, while dropping a subtle challenge to each at the same time.I liked that, we'll see how it plays out.
This stuff about smokescreens and what not sounds good on a message board. However NBA GMs aren't stupid, Westbrook is on a 47 million dollar expiring contract. You don't move for that during the off-season, unless you are trying to dump trash that you don't want, or have a disgruntled superstar that wants out. We shouldn't want the former, and the latter...it depends on who it is. To keep it a buck, if it was all about the expiring contract, John Wall's name would be buzzing around as much as Westbrook's.
We planned on running it back all along, and we hired the coach that we thought had the best plan on how to make it work. If it goes left, somebody will be looking to shed salary or someone will want out of their current situation by the trade deadline. Go Lakers

 

i agree the russ stuff isn't a smokescreen, but i don't think it was because we always planned to keep him. i think we found out at the deadline that teams wanted to rob us blind in any russ deal, and then in coaching interviews, folks were able to sell the FO on workable options involving not trading russ.

we'll see if they were right.

but i still think if someone calls calling with better options than we've seen, he'll be gone.

 

Not sure that smokescreen is the word for it, but OF COURSE they are doing the PR of running it back with him (regardless of their real intentions) to try and raise his value in trade.

The truth is OF COURSE having a no-nonsense coach like Ham is a better fit for this team currently than laid back Vogel, 100% because you are still dealing with Westbrook as well as a roster that is top heavy; with or without him, and is going to be mostly filled with veteran minimum guys.

Bottom line is you can't put a square peg in a round hole, I don't give two s***s who the new coach is.

There is certainly not a top line talent (and you would be hard pressed finding even a regular talent) that fits this offense WORSE than Westbrook does. With LBJ and AD this team needs three things PERIOD (which is what made the trade absolutely INSANE to begin with)- and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize what those three things are:

1. SPACING
2. SHOOTING
3. DEFENSE

Westbrook does not bring any of those things to the table, and I doubt any "sacrificing" will change that even if the egotistical and stubborn soon to be 34 year old (November) embraces it.

What I don't think is simply PR is the Lakers, who realize now what a horrendous mistake the trade was; willingness to trade even more assets to get rid of him, particularly future first rounders.

Which leaves the option of taking on contracts and what said deals would look like....

 

Haven’t watched any of the presser yet but a couple of you Russ observant eagle eyes picking up on his demeanor and expressions SEEMS to scream that whatever he might have said back to Ham IF it was even lip service positive (we really don’t know that yet) … he didn’t really mean or didn’t even say it in the first place? Yeah there’s so MUCH he would need to change with his attitude and direction of physical efforts on the floor, to become a positive player that could contribute to winning in the playoffs, healthy LeBron and AD or not, that pigs are going to fly first before Russ will do that. Hopefully gone by the deadline! if not this summer.

 

what's russ's opt-in date, btw? is it weird that he hasn't done that yet?

 

That's possible too, and I know I lot of folks would hate it, but Ben Simmons for Russ is a deal I'd like. The salaries don't match up though

 

He did allegedly delete all Lakers stuff from his social media right after his not so passive aggressive exit interview with the media. I'm guessing waiting for the last minute and hoping for a trade himself. He can't have liked what he heard from Ham.

 

You sure put a lot of stock in what blame shifting nothing was his fault poor sacrificing Russ said in his exit interview. Does that really make sense that Vogel (a players' coach) really never talked to him about role or expectations, or that Russ could be trusted with that statement after his act all year? Come on now Slick.

 

yeah, i just...feel like if he's going to stay one more year (and the trade market is truly terrible for him), why not make it two and restructure his deal so that we can use the full MLE this offseason? i wonder if those conversations have been happening or not.

 

Please NO. It helps but it HURTS more to even think about the possibility of even more years with this TURD.

 

yeah, it's unlikely for several reasons, but if he's having tons of conversations with ham, he must be talking with rob and company, too.

 

If he stays, I hope we just cough up the 47 million for him to just stay at home. Don't go to games. Don't go to the practice facility. Just count your money and stay away, far far away, like Antarctica. His mere presence is a net negative.

 

yeah, it started with not panicking at the trade deadline. that was super important and a dangerous moment, imo. if magic were here, we'd have john wall and be one or two picks lighter going five years into the future with absolutely nothing to show for it.

 

I think alot of peoples hate for Westbrook stems from this idea that he is unwilling to adapt and only cares about himself and his stats. I’ve just never seen that to be true. I think he lacks the ability to adapt - especially from a basketball IQ point of view.

I mean if basketball IQ was teachable, Wesley Johnson would of been a multiple time all star.

So to me, if we’re going to retain Westbrook for another season, we should do our best to get the most out of him. If Ham wants him to do better defensively, play him on ball, he has shown routinely in his career that he is better on ball than off. Tell him his role is the same role Kobe had at the Olympics.

Secondly, put the ball more in his hands so he can create. He has shown he can anchor a decent offence and the majority of his value comes from playmaking.

If neither of those things are working or possible - send him home for the season.

 

The problem is Lebron James is best on-ball and is a much better option than Westbrook with the ball in his hands. The best option would be to play Westbrook off the bench so that their minutes are staggered until he can be off-loaded at the deadline.

 

we should convert him to an ultra aggressive shooting guard playing off the ball and attacking at whim because his 3 is money and he finishes so well at the rim