On February 11, Beijing time, the door of this season's player trading market was closed as scheduled, and at the last moment, a number of transactions were successfully concluded, and some teams with the potential to compete for the championship got the championship puzzle they wanted. The Los Angeles Lakers, however, have become the frustrated people behind this carnival. Until the trading door is completely closed, they are still stuck, neither completing any transactions, nor receiving any gains in the buyout market.
It should be noted that it is not that the Lakers management is inactive, on the contrary, they have been quite active in the past period of time, they have been in contact with the Knicks, Rockets, Pistons and other teams, and many players including Grant, Turner, Wall and other players have been rumored. However, it turned out that the whole league rejected them.
As the league's recognized championship favorite at the beginning of the season, the Lakers have only achieved a record of 26 wins and 30 losses so far, ranking ninth in the West, with a winning percentage of less than 50%, and in the past 15 games, they have lost 10 games, and even Davis, who has returned from the line of fire, has not been able to help the team recover the decline. Westbrook is considered to be the biggest problem with this team, the multi-time All-Star point guard, the former regular season MVP, this season averaged 18.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game, the data looks very comprehensive, but from the perspective of the game, his shooting performance, tandem organization or defense are difficult to satisfy.
The Lakers have been peddling Westbrook, but ultimately failed. This means that they have to continue the big three lineup of Westbrook + James + Davis, at least until the end of the season, then next, his position and role in this team depend entirely on head coach Vogel.
Coincidentally, before and after the last game against the Trail Blazers, Vogel had made his attitude towards Westbrook clear: Despite his extraordinary achievements in the league, for him, helping the team win was always the first priority, and he would do everything he could to help the team on the road to winning.
If he could send Wei Shao away, Vogel would naturally be happy, but now the transaction has not been completed, which means that Vogel may make a change in wei shao's use - to put him on the bench. Previously, Vogel has abandoned Westbrook many times at critical moments, and although the latter has complained about this, the Lakers management is clearly supportive of him.
Since entering the league in 2008, Westbrook has played only 17 games off the bench in his 14-year career, and he has been the team's unstoppable starting point guard for the past decade or so, and once Vogel is determined to put Westbrook on the bench, it means that the turning point in his career has come, and for the rest of his career, Westbrook may have to accept the role of substitute.