The Los Angeles Lakers are 0-5 with road losses to the Warriors, Nuggets, and Timberwolves and home losses to the Clippers and Trail Blazers. LeBron James is averaging 25.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 1.6 steals per game while Anthony Davis is doing his part with 24.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks per game. However, the rest of the team is pretty weak. Lonnie Walker IV is averaging 13.4 points per game on 41.5% shooting from the field, which isn't bad, but Russell Westbrook is really stinking it up, averaging 12.3 points per game on an absolutely horrible 30.9% shooting from the field. It's just bad. Like really bad.
And then after Westbrook, there just isn't much. Westbrook was supposed to be the third part of a "Big Three" and he's far from fulfilling that role. He's weighing them down like a really big paper weight.
The easy answer to this problem of course is to trade Westbrook. But he's turning 34 in a few days and he has a contract paying him $47M this season. Nobody, even in today's NBA, will want to take on that contract. He'll also be an unrestricted free agent next season, so teams will be able to pick him up for a lot less money assuming he continues to build a house of bricks in Los Angeles.
The Lakers are in a bind. Trading Westbrook is a long long put and yet so long as they have him, they're going to continue to struggle. If they had a lottery first round pick available for next season, they could at least entertain the possibility of tanking for this season. Letting Westbrook brick their way into the NBA draft lottery where they could get a high pick and use that piece to build around for the future.
But given all these win-now moves that they've made, the Lakers don't have that option. If they were to win the NBA draft lottery after the season, the pick would go to the New Orleans Pelicans, who as part of the Anthony Davis trade, have the rights to swap first round picks with the Lakers in 2023. So that option, as attractive as it looks right now, is off the table for them.
If the Lakers do want to turn this around, they need to do so like now. They have a home stand starting Sunday that begins with the Nuggets followed by the Pelicans, Jazz, and Cavaliers before making a return trip to Utah to face the Jazz. This upcoming home stand is crucial. They need to at least post a .500 record on this home stand (2-2) to stay afloat. If they go 1-3 or heaven forbid 0-4, they could be looking at a really really bad season without having any of the benefits of tanking. It can't get any more brutal than that.
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