Los Angeles Lakers: There aren’t many other options than trading Westbrook

If the Los Angeles Lakers want to salvage its season, they must trade Russell Westbrook now. 

You have to credit the Los Angeles Lakers and their front office. Two offseasons ago, they made a trade that they believed would help take their team over the top in the Western Conference. Instead, the move fell flat on its face.

Since then, the front office has been patient in letting it all play out. But we’ve seen enough. Nothing is changing and it’s time for the team’s front office to realize that. The Lakers entered this season in hopes of that changing, but it hasn’t.

It’s time for the Lakers to trade Russell Westbrook.

The Los Angeles Lakers have no other option but to trade Russell Westbrook

If new Lakers head coach Darvin Ham is not going to move Westbrook to a bench role, the Lakers have no other option but to try and trade him. Ham had the opportunity to bring Westbrook off the bench but failed to pull the trigger.

Ham brought Westbrook off the bench during the team’s final preseason game and then resorted to starting him during the season opener. That leaves me to draw the conclusion that the move during the preseason was simply for optics and appeasing the naysayers and fans that have been calling for him more than an actual experiment.

If the team is not going to tangibly try to solve the fit issue with Westbrook, it literally makes no sense to still have him on the roster. Through three games this season, in which the Lakers have gone 0-3, Westbrook is averaging 10 points per game on 29 percent shooting from the field and eight percent shooting from 3-point range.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and other again and expecting different results. It’s hard to look at what the Lakers are doing this season and not label it as just that.

I’m far from a qualified front-office person but it doesn’t take one to realize that the Lakers have a big problem with Westbrook. Something has to change and there aren’t many options at the team’s disposal.

Even if it costs the Lakers biting the bullet on a deal, it’s clear that the team needs to trade Westbrook. There’s no other way around it.