Russell Westbrook’s plight continues to be in the air with various teams being linked to the high scoring guard. The Boston Celtics have been the front-runner but how about the Los Angeles Lakers?
The Lakers are entering the season with yet ‘another’ fresh start headlined by a new coach in Luke Walton. They got a good pick in Brandon Ingram who has been shining in the Summer League and have a young core (D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and Larry Nance Jr.) who are pegged to be the future of the franchise.
They added a couple of vets in Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng as well, which caps a roster that may need minor tweaking. That minor tweak doesn’t sound fit to someone like Westbrook.
Learn from the Dwight Howard fiasco
If the Lakers do consider Russell Westbrook, they may want to recall a case back in 2012, NBA.com reported. This had to do with the Dwight Howard trade, something that didn’t exactly pan up and ended in disaster.
Howard had one year left on his contract and his re-signing depended on how the Lakers would perform. As everyone knows, Howard turned his back and joined the Houston Rockets the following season.
Russell Westbrook’s case is no different. He made it clear he would not be signing any extension and the same holds true for other teams, including the Lakers. With no assurance of commitment, why would the Lakers gamble when in fact their upcoming campaign is still up in the air?
Hold off until 2017
Basketball Insiders offers fair advice to the Lakers – hold off until 2017. They have a promising new core and with a proven first year coach, it would be best to see where the team stands.
A Westbrook addition could be neat if the Lakers were one of the league favourites to vie for the title. Right now, the team is lucky to be a favorite to make the NBA playoffs.
