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What’s going on, family? It’s Sykes back with another edition of Layup Lines. Let’s chat about Russell Westbrook.
The Lakers’ point guard is the easy target most people are going to for the Lakers’ early struggles on the season. The team is 0-2 so far and have collectively shot a putrid 19 of 85 from 3-point range this season, good for a whopping 22% from that distance.
Russ isn’t helping — that’s for sure. He went 0-11 on Thursday against the Clippers where any meaningful offensive contribution from him probably could’ve catapulted the team to its first win of the year.
He’s also been pretty difficult to work with so far this season, it seems. He’s already blamed a preseason bench role for an injury this year which is totally ridiculous. The Lakers are smart to explore that and he should be open to it. But it’s clear that he isn’t.
With all of that being said, though, Westbrook is not the one who should bear the brunt of the blame for what these Lakers are.
When the Lakers traded for him, everyone knew they were trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Westbrook has never been a shooter. He’s also always been the primary ball handler. And he’s literally never done anything else.
They tried it in Houston with James Harden back in 2019 and it didn’t work. What made Rob Pelinka, LeBron James and the rest of the Lakers’ decision-makers thing it would work here? That’s a question that only they can answer. And that’s who fans should be looking to for answers here.
Westbrook didn’t trade for himself. He also didn’t opt not to trade himself away this summer. The Lakers had deals on the table but chose not to move on them. They also haven’t explored a buyout in any real sense.
Furthermore, look at the way the Lakers’ roster is constructed. They’ve got 3 Hall of Famers in Westbrook, James and Anthony Davis on their team. Two of them primarily play with the ball to find success.
The rest of the team’s rotation consists of borderline starting veterans (Patrick Beverley), veterans that wouldn’t play big minutes elsewhere (Kendrick Nunn, Lonnie Walker and Juan Toscano-Anderson), and dudes that may actually end up in the G-League at one point or another (Austin Reeves, Matt Ryan and Wenyan Gabriel). There’s just not much there to work with.
So, sure. Westbrook has been bad. Very bad. But this is not a Westbrook problem. This is a Lakers problem. Treat it that way instead of scapegoating one player.
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
Remember when the NBA shut the entire world down after Rudy Gobert came down with Covid-19? Yeah, that wasn’t fun at all.
Donovan Mitchell relived that night a bit on JJ Redick’s The Old Man and the Three podcast and the details are wild. The biggest of which might be the fact that not only did the Jazz spend 9 hours in their locker room in isolation after the game was canceled, but also the fact that Chris Paul sent them 15 bottles of wine to hold them over in isolation.
Our Bryan Kalrbosky writes:
“If that immediate instinct to booze feels relatable, you’re probably not alone. Several studies showed that people in the United States were buying more alcohol and drinking more frequently during the pandemic than they were beforehand, per USA TODAY.
Once they were finally able to leave, Mitchell explained that a man in a full hazmat suit drove them to a nearby hotel in Oklahoma City.
After they arrived at the hotel, which was emptied out, there were cops there and the travel party was told they could not get food. So, said Mitchell, they just kept drinking.”
That’s just terrifying, man. I wouldn’t even know how to react to people needing to address me in hazmat suits and having to stay in empty hotels. All of it. To be at the front of that? It’s hard to imagine how that must’ve felt.
This is a good one for all you basketball and betting sickos out there. The Magic are a team the basketball nerds are going to watch this year. Paolo Banchero looks excellent — he’s the first rookie to get 25 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in a debut since LeBron James. And the Hawks look pretty good, too. Their defense is still questionable, though. And with the Magic riding the high of their feisty start (even after a loss), I’d think hard about taking them +8.5.
Shootaround
— Darvin Ham is the NBA’s first meme of the season
— Myles Turner’s bizarre pre-game collision with a ball boy might keep him out for a while
— James Harden is BYKE and Twitter loves it.
— Pistons assistant GM Rob Murphy has been placed on leave following a workplace misconduct investigation
That’s all, folks. Enjoy the weekend.
