On January 11, Beijing time, the US media LakersDaily posted a picture after yesterday's game. When Wei Shao was interviewed and the Lakers reporter called him the team's point guard, Wei Shao suddenly covered his mouth and smiled. LakersDaily's comment: While Westbrook is listed as the Lakers' starting point guard, he clearly doesn't feel like he's really playing in that position.
The Lakers exchanged Westbrook for Westbrook last summer in order to improve the team's speed and athleticism, get a third scoring point, and reduce James' workload. The US media believes that the effect he brings is mixed, although he sometimes plays a very good performance, but many times his shooting choices are bad, and there will be too many mistakes.
LakersDaily noted that Westbrook is actually the Lakers' second-place possession player because James remains the Lakers' decision-maker, especially at key moments. Westbrook's erratic performance has led many Lakers fans to call for him to be traded away in the past few weeks.
However, Wei Shao's huge contract also makes him very unlikely to be traded, especially if he is exchanged for a satisfactory return for the Lakers. The Lakers' more likely path is to get Westbrook to adapt further to this team.
So far this season, Westbrook has averaged 19 points, 8.1 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game, a significant reduction in assists per game than when he played for the Wizards last season (11.7).