Lakers News: Was Nina Westbrook Throwing Shade At L.A. After Cancelled Presser?

Parse the Instagram Story tea leaves for yourselves!

At least one member of your extended current Los Angeles Lakers family has some questions about why L.A. at the last minute canceled its scheduled Tuesday presser, featuring team president Rob Pelinka and new head coach Darvin Ham.

Nina Westbrook, wife to embattled 2021-22 starting Lakers point guard Russell Westbrook, took to her Instagram Stories to weigh in on the situation (h/t to ClutchPoints for the find):

Russell Westbrook’s wife, Nina, posted this on Instagram hours after the Lakers cancelled a press conference 🤔 pic.twitter.com/7lLQaw7Vt5

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 21, 2022

The insinuation here is clear: that the Los Angeles Lakers could be the "wrong place" for what she sees as her under-appreciated hubby. 

Or maybe she's really talking about the changing value of water depending on locational context. But somehow, we kinda doubt that.

So why did Los Angeles brass opt to cancel this meeting? Is a potential late trade to send out Russell Westbrook in the offing, as Nina Westbrook may be inferring with her post? Could L.A. be working to make a different personnel move altogether?

It's barely a secret that L.A. would be happy to ditch Westbrook's costly expiring $47.1 million deal for the 2022-23 season elsewhere, but the issue apparently is determining exactly how much future draft capital Pelinka and his team are happy surrendering in a trade. The Utah Jazz appear to be the most likely candidate for a swap, as they possess a number of intriguing veteran pieces who would better serve what the Lakers need right now, and the trio of Patrick Beverley, Dennis Schröder and Kendrick Nunn could all receive a more balanced distribution of minutes at the point. It seems that L.A. is considering significant minutes for Nunn at the shooting guard spot as well. 

Per Daniel Starkand of Laker Nation, Ham and Pelinka's press conference has been shifted to this coming Monday, the 26th, along with the rest of whatever the Lakers roster looks like by then.