Lakers: LA Trading for Russell Westbrook "Made No Sense" Says NBA Insiders

Tim McMahon and Tim Botemps of ESPN sounded off on the Lakers decision to trade for Westbrook this summer.

Many words have been written about the play of the Lakers Russell Westbrook. This site is no exception. There were major questions when the Lakers added Westbrook this summer.

How would Westbrook fit in to a roster that’s not centered around him? Could he effectively play off-ball at times for the first time in his career? Would he start playing the defense he’s capable of?

ESPN’s Tim McMahon and Tim Botemps both think it was never going to work from the jump.

McMahon cited the eight-year KD-Russ experiment in OKC as proof that Westbrook winning a championship with Lebron and AD was a tall task.

“It made no sense for LeBron to make this [trading for Westbrook] happen. Russ has never been a complimentary guy. KD reached a point, where he said ‘I don’t think I can win with him’…the problem is, if he’s not ball dominant, then he’s a major minus because teams don’t guard him and he does’t do anything without the ball to contribute.”

Russ’s third lowest usage rate of his career (27.6) and 43.7% field goal percentage this season add context to McMahon’s opinion.

Bontemps doubled down on the harsh critique of the Lakers decision to bring Westbrook into the fold.

“The idea that the Lakers traded for Russell Westbrook to play with LeBron, maybe the best on-ball player of all-time, was completely insane. It never made any sense and we’ve seen it play out. This isn’t a hindsight thing…anyone who could rationally look at this back in the summer knew it was destined for failure. He’s not going to fit playing off the ball.”

LeBron has a history of playing a large role in roster decisions for whatever team he is on. Trading for Westbrook wasn’t his call alone, but he certainly signed off on it.

According to the Tims, Rob Pelinka and LeBron should’ve known how the Westbrook experiment was going to play out before he even stepped foot on the court in purple and gold.