Los Angeles Lakers: With Russell Westbrook gone, there’s nowhere else to point fingers

With Russell Westbrook off the team and with a retooled roster, there’s nowhere else for the Los Angeles Lakers to point fingers.

The Los Angeles Lakers‘ inactivity to tangibly improve the roster during the offseason and then at the beginning of the regular season after a rocky start made absolutely no sense. Most of all, it gave LeBron James and Anthony Davis somewhat of an excuse. After all, what did we expect them to do with a roster that was not good enough to make any kind of waves in the Western Conference?

Not to mention having a past-his-prime superstar that was a terrible fit in Russell Westbrook. The Lakers’ rough start to the season was quite bad but at the same time, it wasn’t surprising. However, all of that is now out the window. The bad start and the excuses.

In the days leading up to the NBA Trade Deadline, the Lakers completely retooled and reshuffled their roster through the acquisitions of Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Mo Bamba, and Davon Reed. And if they wanted, they could still make an addition via the buyout market.

Whether or not you believe that the Lakers will be better with this retooled roster is not that important. The fact is that this is a different team than it was just a few days ago. And if the Lakers can’t improve this time around, there are big questions that need to be asked.

Will a retooled roster be the answer for the Los Angeles Lakers?

There’s no question that after the NBA Trade Deadline, the pressure surrounding the Lakers is only going to grow. This is a team that has to show some improvement over the course of the next few weeks to justify everything that has happened over the last few weeks.

LeBron James called for improvement. He called for change. Heck, he called for Kyrie Irving. But instead of acquiring Kyrie, the Lakers managed to retool nearly the entire roster. Now the ball is in their court. If they can’t show improvement or even make the playoffs this season, big questions will be waiting for this team heading into the offseason.

LeBron may be under contract for next season but in a league where players hold all the power, you can’t help but wonder what he may elect to do if the Lakers fall flat on their faces after all the moves that they made at the trade deadline.

The Lakers didn’t retool nearly half of their roster just to make the playoffs. No, LeBron’s aspirations are much higher than just being a first-round playoff exit just to save face. And being the joke of the playoffs once again could end up being the final straw for LeBron. But with the scapegoats of all scapegoats (Westbrook) now off the team, there is nowhere else to point fingers.

With a retooled roster, the pressure is back on for LeBron and the Lakers. The last couple of months of the regular season could go a long way in determining what kind of offseason it will be for Los Angeles. There’s a lot riding on the next few months for the Lakers.