The Lakers have discussed the russell Westbrook trade internally

From the moment Russell Westbrook entered the Lakers in 2021, he had problems matching with the Los Angeles Lakers, and so far this season, during a disappointing 15-13 start, those concerns were somewhat justified. Rumors of restructuring were inevitable for weeks, and now they're finally starting to circulate. According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, the Lakers have had internal discussions about the deal given Westbrook's mismatch with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. It was the day after Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the Lakers were interested in Ben Simmons. For financial purposes, Westbrook would need to be involved in such a transaction.

Of course, considering trades and executing trades are two very different things. Westbrook has been owed $91 million this season and next, and in the entire basketball world, few players can match salaries with the deal. Most of the players who can become superstars, their team never wants to trade them for Westbrook, he's 33 years old and seems to be declining. It should also be noted that both James and Davis want a trade with Westbrook and they may not be excited about a deal even if it is in the best interests of the team. For these and many other reasons, trading is extremely unlikely.

Westbrook has had an ups and down season in Los Angeles, and he's far from blameless for the team's struggles. His defensive efforts have been disappointing throughout the season, especially with a team that has a strong defensive culture like the Lakers in recent years. He didn't grow into an incumpser as the Lakers had hoped, and while he had some success as James' ball-handler in his early days, it wasn't a job That Westbrook accepted. These are all foreseeable problems. Westbrook has both succeeded and struggled in the way he has typically succeeded and struggled throughout his career. In other words, he basically lived up to expectations unless the Lakers believed he would magically change as a player in his 30s.

That makes Westbrook a somewhat unfair scapegoat for the Lakers. His limitations as a player were evident from the moment they traded him, but they still built a list of meaningless things around him. Despite knowing Westbrook's defensive weaknesses, they refused to pay Alex Caruso. Despite Westbrook's high-usage style, they added point guards to the back of the list. They tried to get him to play in both lineups without considering the shortcomings from the perspective of spacing. Even if Wei Shao failed the Lakers, the Lakers also failed him.

It should also be noted that Westbrook has made significant progress throughout the season. After averaging 19 points from 41.8 percent of the first 10 games, he jumped to 22 points in the next 13 games with 46.8 percent shooting, although the recent downturn has lowered his numbers. His career-high three-point shooting in the bottom corner is a career-high 52.9 percent, and if anything close to that number continues, Westbrook could have a way to open up space for James and Davis. History shows that even if his list doesn't, he will progress over time.

These are all reasons not to trade Westbrook, but the most important thing is common sense. The Lakers featured five key players to get Westbrook: Kyle Kuzma, Kentavios CodwellPopp and Monterrez Harrell, as well as Caruso and Dennis Schroeder as free agents, who chose not to keep it at least in part because of the Westbrook deal. There's absolutely no way they're going to turn Westbrook into five worthy players in the middle of the season. The idea that they could somehow trade him and revert to the previous defensively supremacist style of play is entirely fictional. In effect, they'll trade Westbrook for an inferior version of last year's team, which may not be enough to win this year's championship. Despite Westbrook's flaws, the Lakers have worked on this three-star style. Their only hope of saving the season, apart from a very surprising return on a possible Westbrook trade, is to have the best team around Westbrook himself. He offered something the Lakers gave up on players that didn't have, and embracing that was the only way they could move forward because backing back wasn't a realistic option.

The Lakers made up their beds while trading Westbrook. Now, they're almost certain to sleep in it. That could mean meaningful deals elsewhere on the list, but there's a good chance Westbrook will stay where it is. For better or worse, there's no realistic way to trade him for anything that would make the Lakers a better basketball team.