“He knows they want him gone…He practically wants to be gone” – Stephen A. Smith asserts Lakers are awaiting a perfect trade offer for Russell Westbrook
The LA Lakers find themselves in a horrible spot regarding the Russell Westbrook situation. It's been clear since Westbrook arrived in Los Angeles that this thing wasn't going to work out, as both sides are now reportedly wanting to part ways.
It would make sense from both perspectives if they do decide to part ways. The Lakers could likely get a few pieces back that could help their team immediately, and Russell Westbrook is hopeful that he can go somewhere to get back to playing the type of basketball that he played for the majority of his career.
NBA analyst for ESPN, Stephen A. Smith, had the following to report on things that he's heard about the Lakers situation.
“You had Kyle Kuzma,” Smith said. “You had Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. They were members of the championship team, who by the way can put up buckets from the perimeter.
“And you were one of the people that encouraged the Lakers to unload that, so you could get a brother in Russell Westbrook that you yourself was on the court in Houston, in the bubble, in the playoffs against them saying he with us. Every time he had the ball.
"From what I'm hearing, he practically wants to be gone."
"From what I'm hearing, he practically wants to be gone."
Stephen A. Smith on Russell Westbrook's future with the Lakers
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What should the Lakers do with Westbrook?
There's no denying from the looks of things that both Russell Westbrook and the LA Lakers are interested in moving on from each other. The next idea is going to be at what they can do in order to either repair that relationship or find a suitor for each other.
The Lakers have reportedly been in contact with the Indiana Pacers about trading Buddy Hield and Myles Turner to LA for Russell Westbrook. We do see this deal go down within the next few weeks.
Westbrook won't be playing for LA in their contest on Wednesday night and it's also been reported that he does have the potential to not play in Friday night's game. Other reports have come out saying that if he does play on Friday night, there's a good chance that he is going to be coming off the bench.
Let's see what LA can work out here, but there's no denying that if they continue to develop some of the players that Stephen A. Smith mentioned. It's not going to be an easy task for them to get back from that, but at the end of the day, they did won a championship because of a big trade that sent most of those guys to New Orleans.
The Lakers front office is currently facing their most difficult task yet. Maybe they can figure this thing out with their Big-3 and maybe they won't. Only time will tell now.