Lakerholics

That’s unfortunately what peoole think about Russell Westbrook. That the issue is more about the Lakers making him a winner than him making the Lakers a winner. This for one of the best point guards to ever play the game.

One thing for sure is Russ doesn’t give a damn about what people think. Like Chris Paul, he’s been written off as a mercurial superstar who’s style of play doesn’t work well within a team game and doesn’t translate into winning. Labeling Russ a loser is the ultimate disrespect, especially when you consider he averaged a triple-double four of the last five years and led his team to a successful winning record in nine of his eleven NBA seasons.

So what gives? Are the critics and pundits right that Russ is a poor fit for what the Lakers need? What does he have to change in his game for the Lakers to win a championship? Can the Lakers make Westbrook a winner?

WHY ARE CRITICS AND HATERS SO DOWN ON RUSS?

I wonder if the trade for Westbrook would have met with the same negative media and fan response had the Lakers had not been publicly on the verge of pulling off a trade for Buddy Hield, who was the perfect fit for the Lakers.

That the Lakers changed course at the last minute and traded for Russ instead of Hield has been the lead story as analysts evaluated the team’s roster moves and questioned whether Buddy would have been a better fit. There’s no question Hield’s high volume, high percentage 3-point shooting would have been a perfect fit on the Lakers but that doesn’t give critics the right to ignore Russ’ potential contributions as a legitimate third superstar.

Westbrook not only is a poor midrange and 3-point shooter but his presence on the court eliminates point guard as a position to create spacing for LeBron and AD, leaving the Lakers with only two positions for shooters. Rather than waste one of those positions on Gasol or Howard, the Lakers superstars proposed that LeBron move to the four and AD to the five so the Lakers could then use the two and three spots for volume 3-point shooters.

Russ at the point unquestionably makes it harder for the Lakers to put shooters on the court but that doesn’t mean they can’t figure it out. After all, Russell Westbrook gives the Lakers a legitimate Superstar Big Three.

WHAT DOES RUSS HAVE TO DO FOR LAKERS TO WIN?

The Lakers have always been a franchise that thinks big and shoots for the moon so it’s no surprise they opted to gamble on a home run in the form of Russell Westbrook over a solid extra base hit in the form of Buddy Hield.

So how do the Lakers transform their gamble on Westbrook into a win? It all starts with the private meeting Russ had with LeBron and AD at LeBron’s home a couple of weeks before free agency. That meeting ignited the trade. During that meeting, Westbrook told James and Davis he would play whatever role they wanted him to play while LeBron and AD suppsedly said they would be willing to move to the four and five to accomodate Russ.

What do the Lakers need from Westbrook? First, they need his superstar playmaking and attack dog mentality as a point guard to allow James to move to the four and play off the ball to save energy and reduce workload. Second, they need Russ to become a pass first point guard other than when attacking the rim. Russ’ job will be to run the offense and create easy shots for teammates, whether LeBron or AD attacking the rim or 3-point shooters.

Westbrook is so talented that he should be able to continue to average a triple- double as a pass first point guard on the Lakers. If he can average 10 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds per game, the Lakers will be champs.

Russ, LeBron, and AD agreeing to play small ball was the trigger that made the Westbrook trade make sense and the biggest strategic change since the Lakers completed the mega trade with the Pels for Davis two years ago.

After two years of accomodating AD’s preference to play the four, the Lakers finally received approval to move Anthony to the five to open up both the shooting guard and small forward positions for needed 3-point shooters. Finally, the Lakers will play their two superstars at their best positions and start games with their best lineup. That change combined with the addition of Russell Westbrook should unleash LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

If Russ is serious about adapting his game to what LeBron and AD need, expect the Lakers to make him a winner and the team to enjoy their best season since LeBron James and Anthony Davis put on purple and gold.

It’s going to be ‘Game Over’ when the Los Angeles Lakers unleash ‘Monster Ball’ — their long, lethal, bully ball version of small ball — on the rest of the league with Westbrook at the one, James at the four, and Davis at the five.

It took Russell Westbrook meeting with LeBron James and Anthony Davis two weeks before free agency but the Lakers appear to be ready to embrace an enhanced version of the small ball lineup that won the championship. That they traded for Russell Westbrook is a clear sign LeBron James is finally ready to give up being the Lakers’ point guard and Anthony Davis is finally ready to jetisone his objections and accept playing small ball center.

While some doubters and naysayers still predict Vogel will still start Gasol or Howard at center, those with inside info like L.A. Times’ reporter Brad Turner are now reporting James and Davis will start at the four and the five. Rob may be the GM and Frank the coach but the NBA is a superstars’ league and the reason the Lakers are finally going to embrace small ball is the same reason they resisted it before: because that’s what their superstars want.

For a Lakers team that spent two years aggressively reducing the time Davis spent playing the five, the idea of finally joining the modern NBA and embracing small ball with LeBron at the four and AD at the five is exciting.

A Monster Ball Lakers lineup with Westbrook at the one, elite volume 3-point shooters at the two and three, James at the four, and Davis at the five could be the biggest and baddest, fastest and quickest small ball lineup ever.

The NBA got its first taste of the Los Angeles Lakers’ unique version of small ball when they won their 17th championship led by 6′ 9,” 250 lbs LeBron James playing the four and 6′ 10,” 250 lbs Anthony Davis playing the five. James and Davis not only dominated offensively — dropping dunks, raining threes, dishing dimes — but also defensively — making steals, blocking shots, guarding and shutting down the opposing team’s leading scorer.

The Lakers’ bubble version of small ball was probably the best since prime Golden State Warriors’ ‘Death Lineup.’ Unlike the Dubs’ small ball lineup, the Lakers played their version of small ball over half the time in the playoffs. Now it looks like Russ, LeBron, and AD have sold the Lakers on a version of small ball that’s even faster and more physical than we saw in the bubble. One ignited and fueled by Russell Westbrooks’s unstoppable engine.

It’s no secret the Lakers want to return to the small ball style and physicality that won them a championship. The addition of Russell Westbrook was all about the vision he, LeBron, and AD had for Lakers playing Monster Ball.

So why should the Lakers’ version of small ball be called Monster Ball? It’s because the NBA has never seen a small ball lineup that has the pure speed and raw physicality that Russ, LeBron, and AD bring when playing small.

Speed kills and the Lakers traded for Russell Westbrook because no point guard embodies speed the way he does. The Lakers want to run, which is why they traded for Russ and will move LeBron to the four and AD to the five. There’s no way the Lakers are going to slow down their starting lineup by playing slow footed Marc Gasol at the five. Lakers want to take advantage of the speed of their Superstar Big Three and dominate teams in transition.

Physicality is the second component of the Lakers Monster Ball attack. The Lakers sorely missed the bully ball antics and freakish physicality of Dwight Howard last season. Bringing Howard back was one of Pelinka’s priorities. With three of the league’s most physical superstars in Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis, the Los Angeles Lakers don’t have to sacrifice size or physicality like other teams do when they opt to go small.

Whether on offense or defense, the Lakers’ Monster Ball lineup with Russ at the one, LeBron at the four, and AD at the five is a superstar fueled and turbo charged version of small ball the likes of which the NBA’s never seen.

We knew the Lakers faced a daunting challenge when free agency started because they didn’t have cap space and had to use their only tradeable contracts — Kuzma, Caldwell-Pope, and Harrell — to trade for Westbrook.

Rather than run it back with last year’s players, the Lakers decided to completely turnover their roster, bringing back only Talen Horton-Tucker to join LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Mark Gasol, and Russell Westbrook. They added Kendrick Nunn via the MLE and Kent Bazemore, Malik Monk, Wayne Ellington, Carmelo Anthony, Trevor Ariza, and Dwight Howard on minimum contracts and Joel Ayayi and Austin Reaves on two-way deals.

Pelinka did a fabulous job building a championship roster by surrounding Westbrook, James, and Davis with elite volume 3-point shooters like Nunn, Ellington, and Monk and proven quality defenders like Howard and Ariza. The result is a roster filled with talented veteran players who complement the Lakers’ Superstar Big Three and are great fits for their run-and-gun small ball offense and trapping, doubling, and rotating aggressive team defense.

The Lakers’ Monster Ball lineup will redefine what playing small means. It’s the ultimate small ball lineup and perfect system to take advantage of speed and physicality of Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis.

The Lakers are on the verge of making a mega mistake. After missing an opportunity to turn Alex Caruso into a trading chip, it looks like the Lakers are going to make the same mistake by letting Dennis Schroder walk.

While Rob Pelinka has done a great job finding shooters after trading for Russell Westbrook, he has put the Lakers at risk of being handcuffed by a lack of viable trading chips at the midseason deadline and next summer. With Talen Horton-Tucker’s $10 million and Kendrick Nunn’s $5 contracts as their only trading chips greater then the minimum salary, the Lakers desperately need to convert Dennis Schroder into a viable trading chip.

If they allow Schroder to walk for nothing like Caruso, the Lakers will only have THT’s and Nunn’s plus eight minimum salary contracts to use to make a trade to upgrade the roster or fill a roster hole at the midseason deadline. Since Horton-Tucker and Nunn are keepers, the Lakers will essentially enter the trade deadline and next summer with no ability to make a major trade unless they’re able to transform Dennis Schroder into a viable trading chip.

It’s probably too late to do anytbing at this point about allowing Caruso to walk without even getting a trade exception back but that’s a mistake the Lakers just cannot make with Schroder regardless of the luxury taxes. Schroder would give the Lakers the viable trading chip they need at the deadline. They could trade him to another team to fill a major need or trade him into another team’s cap space to avoid paying the luxury taxes.

The Lakers’ $189 million in projected luxury taxes for next season now just ranks 6th in the league behind the Warriors’ $362 million leads, Nets’ $306 million, Clippers’ $300 million, Bucks $200 million, and Jazz’ $192 million. With the NBA headed towards an explosion of teams willing to pay luxury taxes, the Lakers need to rethink how much they were willing to pay to build a championship roster because the bar has now been officially raised.

Imagine the difference between the Lakers having a $10 million tradeable contract or trade exception from re-signing or trade-and-signing Dennis Schroder versus having to trade THT or Nunn to improve the roster.

The Lakers were confronted with pro basketball’s version of Sophies’ choice: the mercurial ‘difference-making playmaker’ or the lethal sharp shooter who took more threes than any player not named Steph Curry?

After negotiating with both the Sacramento Kings for Buddy Hield and the Washington Wizards for Russell Westbrook, the Lakers made a last minute decision to go with the mercurial playmaker over the lethal 3-point shooter. But there are whispers around the league the Lakers may have been simply setting the stage to expand the parameters of the Russell Westbrook trade to include other players and teams with a goal of still landing Buddy Hield.

In fact, you could argue giving up almost all of your trading chips for a max contract point guard who can’t shoot the three would be idiotic unless the Lakers had a plan to expand the trade to include Buddy Hield or a shooter.

WHY THE WESTBROOK TRADE COULD BE EXPANDED

Because the trade can’t be finalized until after the August 6 free agent moratorium begin, the Lakers still have time and opportunity to expand the trade to enable them to land both Russell Westbrook and Buddy Hield.

There’s a viable argument Rob Pelinka and Tommy Sheppard have agreed in advance to allow either team to expand the trade. Washington already has done this by trading the #22 pick in the draft to Indiana for Aaron Holiday. The obvious tell that this might be the case was the Wizards announcing to their fans that Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was a keeper but Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell wouldn’t be part of the team’s roster on opening day.

Remember Kuzma and Harrell were the players the Sacramento Kings had tentatively agreed to accept in trade for prodigious 3-point shooter Buddy Hield. Coincidence or not, that opens the door for LA to expand the trade. The way this transaction is happening reminds me of how Pelinka, Griffin, and Sheppard managed the AD deal, which ended up being a three-team trade helping the Lakers could clear cap space to pursue Kawhi Leonard.

The Lakers have multiple options to try and expand the Russell Westbrook trade to include Buddy Hield. While accomplishing that will take some salary cap magic, it’s what multiple-team trades were designed to do.

CAN THE LAKERS AFFORD TO ACQURE BUDDY HIELD?

Aside from the logistic challenges acquiring Buddy, the question may be can the Lakers afford him? Everybody is assuming the Lakers are all-in on paying whatever they have to win since they traded for Russell Westbrook.

The problem is the total cost of going all-in could be prohibitive. Re-signing THT and Caruso, using the MLE, and paying Buddy Hield would result in $180 million in salary, $160 million in tax, and $340 million total payroll. Realistically, that’s way too much to pay in salary and taxes. The Lakers will have to chose between paying for a prodigious shooter like Buddy Hield or trustworthy role players like THT, Caruso, and a player for the MLE.

If the Lakers were to fill out the rest of their roster with minimum salary players, they would have $145.1 million in salaries and $13.7 million in taxes for a total payroll of $158.8 million, which would already exceed many teams. Adding Hield would cost $166.2 in salaries, $83.5 million in taxes, for a payroll of $249.7 million. Adding THT. Caruso, and MLE would cost $160.0 million in salaries and $57.8 million in taxes for a payroll of $217.8 million.

Ultimately, the Lakers may be forced to choose between adding a needed lethal shooter like Buddy Hield to give them the 3-point shooting they need or bringing back Horon-Tucker and Caruso and using the taxpayer MLE.

HOW DO LAKERS LAND RUSS AND BUDDY?

Once the Lakers accept that they have to choose between Hield and the Horton-Tucker, Caruso, and MLE trio of role players, they will have three pathways or options to expand the Westbrook trade to include Buddy.

These three options will depend upon Rob Pelinka and the Lakers being creative in finding teams willing to receive free agents like THT and Caruso in sign-and-trades that will hard cap the receiving team for the rest of season. Talen Horton-Tucker and Alex Caruso are projected to receive offers close to $10 million each so together they bring back $20 million per year in tradeable contracts the Lakers could use to expand the Westbrook trade.

The Lakers’s first option is to convince the Washington Wizards to accept a sign-and-trade for Dennis Schroder in lieu of Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell so the Lakers can send them to the Kings in return for Buddy Hield. The Lakers could offer to replace Kuzma and Harrell with THT and Caruso, two younger players who would be better fits on the the Wizards roster or worth more as trading chips in other deals to upgrade their roster.

The second option is for the Lakers to find a third team without cap space to sign Schroder in free agency but who are willing to sign-and-trade for him. Fortunately, there are a few teams in that situation who need a point guard. The key would be to swap Schroder for a player or pair of players whom the Kings would accept in trade for Hield or whom the Wizards would accept in lieu of Kuzma and Harrell in the deal for Russell Westbrook.

The Lakers’ third option is to find a team who’s interested in sign-and-trading for Horton-Tucker and Caruso and willing to give the Lakers one or two players they could flip to the Wizards in place of Kuzma and Harrell. This could be the Lakers most likely option to expanding the Westbrook trade to include Hield. Both Horton-Tucker and Caruso should be attractive sign-and-trade pieces for teams looking for defense or a potential future star.

Overall, the Lakers should be able to find a way to use Horton-Tucker and Caruso to expand the Russell Westbrook trade to include Buddy Hield and land both the mercurial playmaker and the lethal 3-point shooter.

Heading into the 2021 NBA Draft, there’s an emerging possibility DeMar DeRozan could end up being the ‘difference-making playmaker’ the Lakers need to move LeBron James to the four and Anthony Davis to the five.

While known mostly for his elite midrange game and reluctance to shoot the three, DeRozan has evolved into an elite playmaker with the Spurs the last three years, averaging 6.9 assists on 2.0 turnovers per game last season. Posting the 10th most assists per game and 11th best assists-to-turnovers ratio by a guard, DeMar may have catapulted himself into consideration for the ‘difference-making playmaker’ the Lakers need to win next season.

Pairing DeMar DeRozan with a volume 3-point shooter like Buddy Hield could give the Lakers the midrange specialist they need to close games and the high volume, high percentage 3-point shooter they need for spacing. DeMar DeRozan as primary playmaker and Buddy Hield as main floor spacer should enable the Lakers to build a dynamic championship starting lineup with LeBron James to the four and Anthony Davis to the five.

The Lakers are optimistically hoping DeMar would agree to sign for the $9.5 million non-taxpayer MLE but chances are they would have to work out a sign-and-trade with the Spurs to be able to actually acquire DeRozan. John Hollinger is projected DeRozan’s value on the free agent market to be $16 million so the Lakers would probably have to give him a 3-year deal starting at around $15 million per year to get him to agree to a sign-and-trade.

Fitting Hield and DeRozan under the $142.9 million hard cap will be a challenge but could be the Los Angeles Lakers best option for upgrading their starting lineup and odds of winning their 18th NBA championship.