On April 20, Beijing time, with the Los Angeles Lakers missing the playoffs, the team's loss of the season allowed them to start the adjustment of the offseason ahead of schedule. In a recent interview with Lakers general manager Pelinka, he did not make a clear statement about the future of Russell Westbrook.
Pelinka praised Westbrook as a future Hall of Famer and has done his best in every game this season. However, for some of Westbrook's future plans, Pelinka said that she also needed to respect the opinions of the players.
'First of all, the first thing westbrook is facing a player option, he needs to sit down and discuss it with the agent, and after making a decision we will negotiate with him to make the decision that is best for both of us." Pelinka said, "Re-apply again, rest assured, we will seriously look for a solution to the problem and make the team improve in every position. I'm not targeting any of the players in the team and I don't think it's fair to talk about the future of anybody on the team now, whether he's going to be traded or not, and it's not fair to discuss it now. ”
Obviously, for Pelinka, he is under great pressure, and with the contract still two years to expire, Pelinka needs to change the current status quo of the Lakers. Once Westbrook executes the player option, it means that the Lakers' room for adjustment in the free market in the offseason is extremely compressed.
And at present, the value of Westbrook's transaction is actually not large, how should Pelinka weigh the pros and cons, so that the Lakers can get back on track in the shortest time, which is the most difficult problem he is currently facing.