The Los Angeles Lakers have lost eight of their last 10 games and seem to be flirting with falling out of the playoff picture in the Western Conference.
Nothing is going right for the Lakers right now, and plenty of people continue to place the blame on Russell Westbrook’s shoulders.
According to a recent report, many league insiders think that the Lakers could improve their current situation by putting Westbrook on the bench.
“Perhaps [Frank] Vogel will never make the move to bench Westbrook, something many league insiders have pointed to as a solution to the on-court issues facing the Lakers,” wrote Bill Oram of The Athletic. “It may not be worth the pain it would cause. But the fact Vogel is willing to publicly entertain the idea of sitting the former MVP and the Lakers’ highest-paid player speaks to the depths to which the team has sunk.”
Westbrook is a player with a lot of pride, and there is no doubt that moving him to a bench role would cause drama. Even if he were okay with it, the national media would surely have a field day with the news.
Over Westbrook’s last 10 games, he’s averaged 14.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists per contest. Perhaps even worse, he’s shot just 36.3 percent from the field and 13.3 percent from beyond the arc during that span. He’s also averaging 3.0 turnovers per game during the same stretch.
For many fans, it’s certainly tough to see what is happening with Westbrook right now. It seems like he’s no longer the player that he once was, and the Lakers clearly miscalculated when they thought they were making the right move by adding him.
Instead of challenging for a title this season, the Lakers seem more destined to be an early out in the playoffs. Of course, they’d have to make the playoffs for that to even happen.
After the season ends, it seems like Westbrook’s time the Lakers could come to an end.
