Subscribe
Follow Us
The Los Angeles Lakers got a rude awakening on Tuesday night as they were badly beaten by the defending champion, Milwaukee Bucks. LeBron James even admitted post-game that his team is nowhere near being a title contender and it appears LA has resorted to the fact that their Big 3 just isn't working, with the Russell Westbrook experiment proving to be a massive failure.
Sources told The Athletic that inside the locker room, players see and feel the same problems as everyone else, perhaps never more clearly than after a non-competitive loss to the champs. They understand as well as anyone that the personnel on this joyless 26-29 team simply isn’t working.
Sources have indicated that the Lakers no longer believe they can win at a high level with Westbrook alongside James and Davis, but prior to Tuesday the line of thinking was that the Lakers would be unwilling to wave the white flag and admit their summer blockbuster was a failure. Instead, they would prefer to wait until the offseason, when they could also include a 2029 pick in a potential deal for another max-contract player looking for a new home.
But the tone after Tuesday’s loss suggested the Lakers are in need of more immediate action. Could things be so dire that the Lakers would be better off including that ’27 pick in a swap now — say for Houston’s John Wall? — even if it means a lesser return? Desperation got the Lakers into this mess and it might take desperation to get them out.
Either way, whether it is by Thursday’s deadline or in the summer, the Lakers know they need to find their way out of the Russell Westbrook business.
While injuries have played their part in the Lakers' 26-29 record, Westbrook has been one of the biggest problems. He's simply not living up to expectations and the organization knows a change must be made. However, it's a little bit hard to trade him right now considering he's getting paid over $40 million per season. A swap with John Wall of the Houston Rockets is about the only option if LA was going to get out of this mess by Thursday's trade deadline. Their contracts match up but the Lakers would need to part ways with a 2027 first-round pick.
Whether Russ sticks around until the offseason or not, it's evident that Los Angeles must make some moves before Thursday. There's an entire second half left and lots of time to turn things around and get themselves back into playoff contention. Defense is certainly a necessity along with three-point shooting, where the Lakers rank 19th in the league currently. They've been linked to an intriguing two-way talent in Jerami Grant, but he's getting lots of interest elsewhere.
One thing is for sure, the front office is definitely making calls to try and improve the roster in a hurry.
