"If she was at the corner waiting for a bus, she’d probably be asking everybody there as well, ‘What do you think we should do we with Russell Westbrook?’" - Ric Bucher believes the Lakers are desperate to make Russ relevant

LA Lakers team owner Jeanie Buss is urgently looking for ways to make Russell Westbrook play better to keep LeBron James happy. [Photo: OpenCourt-Basketball]

Reports recently surfaced that the LA Lakers were asking their head-coaching candidates how to incorporate Russell Westbrook into the team. After last season’s disaster and the likelihood of getting stuck with the former MVP, the Lakers are desperately trying to avoid another epic implosion.

While the strategy to determine potential candidates’ plans for Westbrook is sensible, there may be other reasons not related to the coaching hire itself. NBA insider Ric Bucher, on "The Herd with Colin Cowherd," had an interesting analysis on why these reports could be true:

“They are asking questions that they don’t have an answer to. That's why they’re asking everybody. I daresay (Lakers owner) Jeanie Buss, if she was at the corner waiting for a bus, she’d probably be asking everybody there as well, ‘What do you think we should do with Russell Westbrook?’ Because it is the No.1 question in terms of trying to make this team work.”

Outside of making Westbrook more of a factor this season, LeBron James’ possible contract extension is Buss’ biggest concern. The Lakers owner has already vowed not to trade the four-time MVP and will do everything she can to make him happy.

Lakers’ coaching candidates have been asked to discuss how they would use Russell Westbrook in their system during interviews, sources tell @Sam Amick.

More coaching search intel:
theathletic.com/3313970/?sourc… https://t.co/3LdLNHEmoa

Making “King James” happy involves the chance to win an NBA title as he continues to build his legacy. A repeat of the Westbrook fiasco could be the biggest hindrance to winning another crown. James could end up playing out his contract and simply walk away if he sees the writing on the wall on the Lakers' championship aspirations.

Ric Bucher is convinced that Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis and LeBron James will not play for the NBA title next season

The LA Lakers are likely bringing back the same Big Three for next season. [Photo: Sports Illustrated]

The LA Lakes were 11-10 when the trio of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook played. There were obvious fit issues as the ball-dominant Westbrook preferred to stay on the perimeter waiting for something to happen as James orchestrated plays.

The damning evidence of their inability to play together was Westbrook’s exit interview where he practically blamed James and Davis for his failures. This is the reason that Lakers owner Jeanie Buss is desperately looking for ways to make Westbrook more relevant to how the James-centered Lakers play.

Russell Westbrook was asked about how LeBron James and Anthony Davis said many times this year to "Let Russ be Russ."

Westbrook: “Yeah, but that wasn't true… let's be honest." https://t.co/jZvVssmm6N

Ric Bucher had this to add on Buss’ reported mandate for the new head coach to have a definite plan for Westbrook:

“The reality is, they’re not going to hire anybody that has a solution, not if it means we’re playing for a title. This is a flawed roster. It is not going to play for a championship, but that is what the demand of being a Laker and running the Lakers is. Especially with LeBron James, you’re supposed to be playing for a championship. I believe it’s a fact-finding mission.”