Lakers Rumors: Russell Westbrook Could Be Inactivated By Training Camp

A Lakers insider suggests that the former MVP may be away from the team sooner rather than later.

© Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers' trade that netted them seasoned 3-and-D veteran guard Patrick Beverley, in exchange for the relatively low price of young fringe role players Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson, could spell the end for L.A.'s best-paid player.

A source informs Jovan Buha of The Athletic that, with Beverley en route, it becomes increasingly more possible that the Lakers will distance themselves from incumbent starting point guard Russell Westbrook, formerly a nine-time All-Star and the 2017 league MVP. 

The source indicates that the Lakers could still seek to trade Westbrook, or may also opt to send him away from the team before training camp commences next month. That latter move has become en vogue in recent seasons for expensive ex-All-Star veterans. This season, Westbrook is set to make $47.1 million in the final year of the maximum-salary contract he inked while still with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Houston Rockets sent a healthy John Wall away from the club for all of the 2021-22 season rather than buy out the former five-time All-Star point guard, while Oklahoma City took the same approach with former five-time All-Star big man Al Horford during the second half of the 2020-21 season.

The Thunder were eventually able to offload Horford to the Celtics. The Rockets were not so lucky, and wound up agreeing to a buyout of Wall this summer. Wall joined an absolutely loaded Los Angeles Clippers roster on a two-season, $13.2 million deal. In the first season of his second stint with the Celtics, a 36-year-old Horford served as a full-time starter and the team returned to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010, falling in six games to the Golden State Warriors. 

Will such a rosy outlook befall Westbrook, wherever he winds up next? Time will tell, though he lacks the two-way off-ball ability of either Horford or Wall that allowed them to evolve into the next phase of their long careers.

Going from a star attraction in his first season with the Lakers to persona non grata even before his second season starts is quite the descent for Westbrook. Though his counting stats were reasonable in 2021-22 (18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game across 78 healthy regular season contests), the Long Beach native and UCLA alum had an adverse influence when it came to actually winning anything. In the closing minutes of most games, Westbrook would ignore his teammates, hog the ball, and force up awkward jumpers, while letting opposing players lap him on the other end of the floor. 

The 6'3" floor general has lost a step, but he does not seem to have realized that yet. While Westbrook still remains fairly athletic, and could on paper in a reduced role contribute as an above average passer and solid defender, he has seemed reticent to make that transition. Should that approach persist, Westbrook faces an uncertain NBA future.

Maybe he should have said hello to LeBron James at that Summer League game after all.