As the Los Angeles Lakers looked to bounce back from a disappointing season by retooling the roster, LeBron James put his two cents in by asking for Russell Westbrook over the front office's original target, Buddy Hield. The Lakers acquiesced and traded for Westbrook.

Flash forward to midway through Westbrook's first season with the team. Simply put, it's a mess. Los Angeles is four games under .500 and is currently ninth in the Western Conference. Injuries to James and Anthony Davis don't reasonably explain why this team has underachieved so mightily. Westbrook's frigid shooting nights and the inconsistency of the team overall have sunk the Lakers' title hopes.

James discussed what having Westbrook on the Lakers means ahead of the NBA trade deadline. Although he offered plenty of praise for Westbrook as a leader and a person, he admitted that he hates where the team is with him right now.

The Lakers' struggles go deeper than Westbrook, as evidenced by the loss they just suffered at the hands of a short-handed, Damian Lillard-less Portland Trail Blazers team with James and Davis playing. Westbrook has proven to be a reliable scapegoat for a lot of the team's problems. He is still very much to blame for some of them, though.

With hours left to go in the trade deadline, the Lakers have a lot of soul-searching to do. Part of that may include searching for a new landing spot for Westbrook.