Austin Reaves Explains Why Lakers Traded For Russell Westbrook In 2021

The team needed a change and they got it.

One of the more polarizing players to come through the Los Angeles Lakers organization in recent memory has been point guard Russell Westbrook. From the moment that he was acquired via trade, Westbrook made headlines as a Laker.

LA was seen as a major title contender, but they never lived up to the hype. They ended up missing the postseason in his first year with the team, and many wondered why LA brought him into the team in the first place.

While all of the Lakers struggles weren’t on Westbrook, he surely did have something to do with things. So, when the Lakers finally made a move to trade him last trade deadline, it felt like a weight was lifted off the teams’ shoulders.

They proceeded to make a run to the Western Conference Finals, with a team that made sense together. Lakers guard Austin Reaves opened up about why the team's pre-trade last season didn’t work, ultimately leading to LA moving on from the future Hall-of-Fame point guard.

“I’ve said it many times. It was just not a good fit. Me and Bron have talked about it. Bron was like, ‘Before that year, we were last in the league in transition points and it made sense.’ Watching it all go downhill was interesting to me, was how could we have figured it out. There wasn’t really a way with that roster.”

Per Austin Reaves

It’s interesting to see Reaves admit that the team couldn’t figure out a way to make the roster work. But if you watched even a minute of their games with Westbrook, you could tell that things were unfixable.

Luckily for both sides, things worked out. LA now has a very solid team that is full of players who complement their stars much better, and Westbrook is thriving as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers.

Austin Reaves on why the pre trade Lakers didn’t work👇 #LakeShow

“I’ve said it many times. It was just not a good fit. Me and Bron have talked about it. Bron was like, ‘Before that year, we were last in the league in transition points and it made sense.’ Watching it all go… pic.twitter.com/d2TiQTx5Bj

— 🎗NBA•Fan🎗 (@Klutch_23) September 26, 2023

The Lakers and Westbrook needed their divorce. He wasn’t playing up to his basic standard on the court, and he was suffering unfortunate criticism off of it. It was a bad pairing from the start and one that never should have happened in the first place.

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