In the summer of 2021, the NBA offseason, the hottest team is the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers, which own James and Davis, were swept by the Sun Gentlemen in the first round of the playoffs last season, and this result is not satisfactory for players, fans and management. With James and Davis unable to guarantee attendance, Lakers management was determined to find a third-star to prop up a lineup without a double core. There were multiple stars and Lakers rumors at the time, including Kings shooting guard Buddy Hield and free agent swinger Demar DeRozan. Before the night of the draft, the Wizards and Westbrook unexpectedly killed and became the next home that finally reached an agreement with the Lakers. According to Woj, a well-known ESPN reporter, the Lakers quickly abandoned Hield and DeRozan after Westbrook appeared in the market, choosing the nine-time All-Star "Triple-Double King" to become the team's third giant.
But after the start of the season, Westbrook's performance was not satisfactory. As a point guard who is not known for shooting, Westbrook and James struggled very hard when they were on the court at the same time, which made the Lakers' big three unable to form a synergy. Westbrook's stats are down across the board compared to past few seasons, averaging 19 points per game at the lowest level in his third season, averaging 8.5 rebounds per game and the lowest number of assists per game from 11.7 in the league last season to just 7.9. Although the data has been declining, Westbrook's number of shots has not decreased, and the number of mistakes has even increased, which also makes his efficiency terrible. In the Lakers' away defeat to the Blazers, James was absent, and after Davis went off the court due to injury, it should have been the best time for Westbrook to play his ability to lead the team, but he only shot 1 of 13 in the whole game, and the whole game scored in double figures.
Westbrook's dismal performance has made many critics question whether the Lakers have chosen the wrong person? As the saying goes, "people are better than popular people", when Lakers fans endured Westbrook's bad performance, the performance of DeRozan, the team's second choice and third choice Hield, were all the way red. Although not at the heart of possession, Hield has averaged 4.4 three-pointers per game with 41.7 percent three-point shooting this season. Given his number of shots and production, it's no exaggeration to say hield is the league's second-third-point shooter after Curry. Waiting for the Lakers was fruitless, and DeRozan, who eventually joined the Chicago Bulls, was even more popular. He averaged 26.8 points in 34.9 minutes per game, topping the league's scoring list and even surpassing LaVine as the Bulls' first star. In addition to his high average of points per game, DeRozan's strength is his extreme efficiency, shooting 50.3% from the field and 0.96 goals per game from 42.0% outside the three-point line. In addition, his average of 5.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game reflects his versatility.
Although there are some hindsights, but in the current situation, the Lakers have paid the greatest price in exchange for the lowest return. For Westbrook, they not only traded Kuzma, Pop and Harrell, three quality roller skaters, but also gave up Caruso, who has been great in recent seasons. If it had been DeRozan, the Lakers would have had the opportunity to retain the original lineup to the greatest extent; if hield had been chosen, james's picture with the league's top three-pointer was too beautiful to imagine. But the Lakers made the complete opposite choice, Westbrook although more famous, the data is more gorgeous, but his style of play seems to be difficult to integrate with the current Lakers team. As a team committed to winning the championship, the Lakers obviously can't win only against the lottery team. How do fans think they should adjust? Welcome to discuss and communicate in the comments section!