What you need to know about Russell Westbrook and what he brings to this Lakers team:
The Lakers completely took the NBA by surprise on NBA Draft night by acquiring NBA all-star and LA native Russell Westbrook in the first blockbuster trade of the new year. Many big-name point guards have been linked to the Lakers this off-season, with LeBron explaining his need to add another star player to take pressure off of him in games this season, preferably a guard. Those big names included Kyle Lowry, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, DeMar DeRozen, Buddy Hield, and even Portland’s Damian Lillard. Many were surprised by this acquisition by the Lakers because of a couple of things, money, and spacing.
Russell Westbrook is set to make 91M in the next two seasons for the Lakers, with 44.2M this season and jumping up to 47.1M next year. So it’s no surprise considering how much the Lakers have to pay their NEW big three and the difficulty it brings to add players around their star core because of the limited cap (Sadly the Lakers are still paying Luol Deng until the end of next season).
The biggest concern that many are worried about with the addition of Russell Westbrook to this Lakers team is spacing. Many are wondering how the fit of spacing the floor is going to be with Russell Westbrook playing alongside LeBron and Davis, with both Westbrook and James struggles to stay consistent from both the three and foul line last season. Russell Westbrook shot 31% from deep and 65.6% from the foul line last season for the Wizards, with James shooting a near 40% from three at 36% and 69.8% from the free-throw line. The Lakers are going to have to utilize their cap this off-season to add a consistent shooting guard in the starting lineup and off the bench to provide space for this star core.
One thing to look forward to the LA native putting on his home colors is what he brings to this Laker team. Russell Westbrook brings one thing only a few players in the NBA have and that’s explosive competitiveness and tenacity. Westbrook is always at 100% go-mode, and that is one thing passionate Laker fans are going to love about the Hawthorne native. Last season, Russell Westbrook averaged 22.2 points per game, 11.7 assists, and 11.5 total rebounds a game, with a field goal percentage of 44%.
Despite being the only player in NBA history to average a triple-double in multiple seasons (4-times), Westbrook has still been hit with an overrated label and “stat padder” by many critics despite his insane record-breaking feats because of his team's success. In all the four seasons Russell Westbrook averaged a triple-double, all four of those teams made the playoffs, mainly because of the historical impact that Westbrook brought into helping create his team's success. After having a 17–32 record in the first half of the season, Russell Westbrook (also with the help of all-star Bradley Beal) was able to help completely turn things around for the Washington Wizards, finishing the season with a 34–38 record and punching playoff spot.
Russell Westbrook not only average a triple-double last season for the Washington Wizards, but he was able to climb past the greats and surpass Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson on the all-time triple-doubles list at 182 (Westbrook currently sits at 184 total triple-doubles), a record that had been in the books since 1974 when Robertson retired. Westbrook’s historical record-setting night on May 10th is a record we could possibly never see again, as that record stood for nearly 50 years.