Growing strain with Westbrook becomes obvious
In negotiation, a consistent public posture is a practical tool. But even the best posturing can be upturned by reality.
In the last two weeks, the Lakers have seen an uncomfortable situation devolve. The talk around Las Vegas Summer League and even LeBron James' appearance at the Drew League last weekend was this: What's going on with Russell Westbrook?
The state of affairs hasn't been good for a while. At least since coach Darvin Ham was introduced in June, Ham and the Lakers haven't been shy about talking up Westbrook and their “Big Three” — even though they only won 33 games last year and were just 1110 when playing together.
Ham and general manager Rob Pelinka have said Westbrook has promised in conversations to be a better team player by screening and playing more attentive defense among other things.
But that was always shaky ground, and recent events have shown how weak the foundations are.
Yahoo Sports reported on Monday that Westbrook, James and Anthony Davis spoke on the phone together during the first weekend of Vegas Summer League “with each expressing their commitment to one another and vowing to make it work.”
That report would hold more water for the future of the trio, except for the glaring fact that Westbrook and James were in the same city, in the same building, at the same game and did not publicly approach one another, leaving Thomas & Mack at different times through different entrances. While Davis has been understandably close to home awaiting the birth of his third child, it speaks volumes that there has been no report of Westbrook and James meeting face-to-face.
The affirmation of the Lakers' Big Three has also since been undermined by the shocking public statement of Westbrook's former agent Thad Foucher to ESPN on Friday.
While Westbrook's camp has reportedly denied that his split with Foucher after 14 years was about the Lakers, Foucher's account strongly implied that Westbrook doesn't want to play a supporting role with the Lakers, and potentially even wants out.
“With a possibility of a fourth trade in four years, the marketplace is telling the Lakers they must add additional value with Russell in any trade scenario,” Foucher told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. “And even then, such a trade may require Russell to immediately move on from the new team via buyout. My belief is that this type of transaction only serves to diminish Russell's value and his best option is to stay with the Lakers, embrace the starting role and support that Darvin Ham publicly offered.”
The statement had the effect of spelling out that Westbrook seems to want out, which could hamstring both the Lakers and Westbrook in any forthcoming trade negotiation as the team looks for a home for his $47.1 million contract.
Far from trying to douse water on the fire or even just ignoring it, James poured gasoline on social media as his teammate was severely compromised.
“It's a cold game!” his agent, Rich Paul, tweeted not long after the story broke. James quote tweeted Paul: “Facts!!!
What the tweets were about or what the intention was, only James and Paul know for sure. But they were widely perceived as shots at Westbrook, and James had to at least understand that was a risk — if he was worried about it at all.
Among the whispered conversations at King Drew Magnet High School the next morning as a packed crowd waited for James to play in a pro-am game: Did you see LeBron's tweet? What was that about?
This is the Lakers. Where context is lacking, speculators will gladly fill it in. The truth is that the Lakers' stars haven't offered much public explanation for these strange actions, and they're allowing it to go up for interpretation on talk shows, social media and any space where rumors harbor. Team officials can swear up and down that they're committed to Westbrook, that they want to see him pair with a fully healthy James and Davis, but the players themselves have made that stance seem uncredible.
This deluge of uncertainty comes at a delicate moment. The Lakers might have a window open to trade for Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving, a mercurial player who nevertheless is immensely talented in a way that complements James; they have an NBA title together to prove it. Sources have told Southern California News Group that the price for Irving (who has his own limited market for his services) would involve at least one of the two tradeable firstround draft picks the Lakers have in 2027 or 2029, as well as more second-round draft compensation.
But the organization has been reluctant to part with its best future assets — a stance owner Jeanie Buss underlined in an interview with NBA.com last week: “We're not making change for the sake of change. It has to be good, basketball decisions that help us now and doesn't compromise our ability to deal in the future.”
After conversations with people monitoring both sides of the Irving situation at Summer League, a deal with Irving seems less feasible, especially since Brooklyn seems loath to increase its luxury tax bill by taking on Westbrook, who is considered unlikely to push the Nets closer to championship contention.
But if Buss or the Lakers expect the team to dramatically improve with Westbrook in the fold, they should consider the following statistics (which the team has had access to since last season ended):
• In addition to shooting inefficiency (which is not new to Westbrook), he had a chilling effect on the team offense, which can be chalked up in part to how defenses were able to pack the paint against his lineups. The Lakers averaged 0.98 points per chance when Westbrook was on the court versus 1.07 ppc when he was off.
• Among the Lakers' guards, Westbrook set the fewest picks in pick-and-roll situations, 0.98 per 48 minutes (Wayne Ellington was the next fewest with 1.9). Although the coaching staff believed he would be more effective as a screen and roll threat, he didn't do it consistently. He also ranked last on the team in cutting for layups and floaters per 48 minutes — and attacking off the ball is supposed to be how he's pledged to play next season.
• As Ham has talked about playing more uptempo — something James and Davis could work on next season as well — it's worth pointing out that Westbrook, when he doesn't have a clear lane to the basket, pounds the air out of the ball. He took an average of 4.9 dribbles before a field goal attempt. His turnover ratio was 13.1%, which was behind only Houston's Kevin Porter Jr. and Philadelphia's James Harden among high-usage guards.
• On “The Lowe Post” podcast, ESPN's Dave McMenamin pointed out harrowing defensive stats: Opposing players drove by Westbrook nearly 30% of the time, and he ranked 60th of 71 qualifying players (defending at least 400 drives). On direct drives, he ranked 65th out of 71. He ranked 90th out of 92 qualifying players in opponent expected effective field goal percentage (56.3%).
This is not to say that Westbrook was the only problem with the Lakers last season. It is especially damning for the Lakers' front office to see eight free agents accounting for 5,971 minutes played for the team last season who are still unsigned as of Tuesday (pointed out by NBA.com's John Schuhmann). It is by far the most minutes played by current free agents in the league: The next closest is Charlotte with 3,586 minutes. The pivot to younger (albeit less proven) players is evidence that the Lakers understand why their roster didn't work last season.
The past few months have also offered insight into Westbrook's attempts at camaraderie with teammates beyond his fellow stars. When asked if any of the Big Three had been in touch since he was drafted, second-round pick Max Christie said Westbrook was the one who was first to reach out. It seemed telling that Westbrook's Summer League perch was near the Lakers' bench, and he stepped in to give Scotty Pippen Jr. pointers on how to beat the press. If you ask teammates about Westbrook, you'll hear a lot of positive feedback — at odds with his stagnating performance on the court.
But the Lakers are seeing the limits of the diplomacy between their stars, and the strain is showing no matter how much they try to dismiss it. With just two months until training camp begins, it looks more reasonable to try to move on from Westbrook rather than try to stitch an increasingly untenable situation back together.
If the Lakers ran back this version of the roster, it wouldn't necessarily be history repeating itself: This time, everyone involved would know what kind of challenges they'd be in for. And that knowledge makes it less justifiable to give it another run.