There have been plenty of calls for the Los Angeles Lakers to trade Russell Westbrook and for Russ to leave LA, and if Stephen A. Smith's report is to be believed, both sides agree.
In his latest appearance on ESPN, Smith revealed that based on his sources from around the league, Westbrook is done with the Lakers. However, LA wants to get something in return for him–which has proven to be the biggest deterrent in moving the former MVP.
“He knows they want him gone. From what I'm hearing, he practically wants to be gone, but they can't just let him go for nothing,” Smith said.
Russell Westbrook is playing historically bad this season, with his 8.3 percent 3-point clip highlighting the Lakers' shooting woes even further.
It does look like that Darvin Ham and the Lakers are trying to make it work, with their reported plans about letting Westbrook come off the bench and be a sparkplug to lead the second unit surfacing once again. However, the bigger issue is whether the explosive guard would be satisfied with that kind of role.
Not to mention that, as John Wall, Charles Barkley and Westbrook's former teammate Anthony Morrow have said, it doesn't look like Russ is still having fun playing for the Lakers. The joy that he usually played with is gone, which is always not a good sign.
"He knows they want him gone. From what I'm hearing, he practically wants to be gone, but they can't just let him go for nothing."
Stephen A. Smith on the Russell Westbrook-Lakers situation.pic.twitter.com/253GC285Ia
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) October 26, 2022
It remains to be seen what the Lakers will really do with Westbrook. Perhaps if they get a suitable trade offer, they would pull the trigger. If not, it's possible that they keep him instead and just figure out a way to best utilize him–whether he likes it or not.
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