The Los Angeles Lakers have gotten out to a slow start in the 2021-22 season with their new superstar trio of LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis.
Westbrook, who came to the Lakers in a trade during the past offseason, has taken a little bit of time to mesh with James.
However, it has also not helped that James has missed several games this season due to multiple injuries and a one-game suspension.
One scout blamed James for the Lakers’ poor roster construction, according to an article by Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz.
“LeBron’s a bad GM; Russ is not a good fit there,” the scout said. “He doesn’t need an older roster around him. They still need LeBron to do everything—not a good recipe for this stage of his career.”
The Lakers completely changed their roster this past offseason, as they acquired Westbrook and several other veterans to play alongside James and Davis.
The new roster hasn’t been as successful as the team hoped to start the season, but Trevor Ariza and Kendrick Nunn have still yet to appear in a game for Los Angeles.
While it is easy to knock Westbrook’s fit with James because he isn’t the greatest 3-point shooter, there are still a lot of things that Westbrook has done well this season.
So far in the 2021-22 campaign, Westbrook is averaging 19.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game while shooting 44.9 percent from the field and 32.4 percent from beyond the arc.
The former MVP has come on as of late, as he has posted seven games with 20 points or more over the Lakers’ last 10 contests.
The scout may believe that James and Westbrook can’t work together, but the Lakers still have time to figure out how to be successful with this trio leading the way.
