Late off-season thought experiment: Westbrook

[sturt]

Lakers cannot find a taker for Russell Westbrook after immense effort to get something done. They are left to decide on whether they want to make another go of it, or if they should explore buying him out.

A buyout gets done.

And the next day, Shams reports that the Hawks are among the teams that have indicated some interest, supposedly under the premise that he would get a half-quarter's worth of minutes at PG, and otherwise would be part of the SG rotation as well... much to the chagrin of Mr. and Mrs. Holiday who realize immediately that whatever minutes RW takes are almost certainly minutes that their sons would have gotten.

What quotes you read from him are interesting for their humility--it sounds like RW genuinely is looking for a role where he isn't one of the stars on the team, but is a contributor.

Do you find yourself tempted by the idea, or do you find yourself repulsed and worried that it could have legs? (hehe)

[Plainview1981]

No. He will be done soon.

[EazyRoc]

1 hour ago, sturt said:

Lakers cannot find a taker for Russell Westbrook after immense effort to get something done. They are left to decide on whether they want to make another go of it, or if they should explore buying him out.

A buyout gets done.

And the next day, Shams reports that the Hawks are among the teams that have indicated some interest, supposedly under the premise that he would get a half-quarter's worth of minutes at PG, and otherwise would be part of the SG rotation as well... much to the chagrin of Mr. and Mrs. Holiday who realize immediately that whatever minutes RW takes are almost certainly minutes that their sons would have gotten.

What quotes you read from him are interesting for their humility--it sounds like RW genuinely is looking for a role where he isn't one of the stars on the team, but is a contributor.

Do you find yourself tempted by the idea, or do you find yourself repulsed and worried that it could have legs? (hehe)

6th man ?

[sturt]

1 hour ago, sturt said:

Do you find yourself tempted by the idea, or do you find yourself repulsed and worried that it could have legs? (hehe)

That's my question... because it honestly depends on what minute you ask me which side of my brain is winning the argument.

 

Reality is, it's sounding more and more like something will get done to ship him out of LA, very possibly to IND. But like I said... thought experiment.

[JTB]

Lakers don’t have enough draft compensation to get rid of Westbrook. They are stuck with him in my opinion until that ridiculous contract ends.

Also I don’t ever see Westbrook not wanting to be a star and taking a lesser role. I’ve seen nothing to point to those conclusions BUT let’s just say he did want a lesser role and lakers did buy him out…if hawks FO knows for sure he wants a lesser role perhaps similar to Derrick Rose then hell yeah I’d be completely on board with that.

Bogi can also sub in at SF easily and take most those minutes when Hunter sits so Westbrook would eat up all backup guard minutes at the 1 or 2.

 

it would be a huge “humble yourself” moment from Westbrook though. He would have to be ok not being in games in clutch situations or near the end. Again that’s not Westbrook mindset, he’s not ok it like D Rose is so I wouldn’t pursue him even if he were cheap after a buyout unless Trae and Murray were pushing for it then maybe.

[capstone21]

No, I don’t like his game and I don’t think he could handle the role we would want him for 

[Spud2nique]

6 hours ago, JTB said:

Lakers don’t have enough draft compensation to get rid of Westbrook. They are stuck with him in my opinion until that ridiculous contract ends.

Also I don’t ever see Westbrook not wanting to be a star and taking a lesser role. I’ve seen nothing to point to those conclusions BUT let’s just say he did want a lesser role and lakers did buy him out…if hawks FO knows for sure he wants a lesser role perhaps similar to Derrick Rose then hell yeah I’d be completely on board with that.

Bogi can also sub in at SF easily and take most those minutes when Hunter sits so Westbrook would eat up all backup guard minutes at the 1 or 2.

 

it would be a huge “humble yourself” moment from Westbrook though. He would have to be ok not being in games in clutch situations or near the end. Again that’s not Westbrook mindset, he’s not ok it like D Rose is so I wouldn’t pursue him even if he were cheap after a buyout unless Trae and Murray were pushing for it then maybe.

Some guys I’ll never trust..

Westbrook

Melo

Dwight Howard

etc.

He would probably kill our team chemistry and I don’t want him anywhere close to Trae. 

He has cooties.

[JayBirdHawk]

Pass!

Darvin Ham is attempting to get Russell Westbrook to embrace a supporting role with the Los Angeles Lakers, which is something the team was unsuccessful in persuading him to do last season. The Lakers want Westbrook to play more as a screener and to give more effort defensively. “I was talking to somebody who was with the Lakers last season and they were saying that if there’s a person in the organization that Russ could listen to, they tried to talk to him,” said Brian Windhorst. “From what I'm told, just everybody there who Russ would allow an audience for [talked to him],” added Windhorst.

 

6 hours ago, JTB said:

Also I don’t ever see Westbrook not wanting to be a star and taking a lesser role

This

[sturt]

So, we've heard from the "Just Say No" contingent.

Does an "I'd consider it" contingent exist, or no?

[Spud2nique]

7 minutes ago, sturt said:

Does an "I'd consider it" contingent exist, or no?

[BangHolman]

If he can't buy in to a role with LeBron and AD, I don't see him buying in here.

[Spud2nique]

1 minute ago, BangHolman said:

If he can't buy in to a role with LeBron and AD, I don't see him buying in here.

Him and Kyrie should move somewhere together.

[Gray Mule]

Putting a team together is like a picture puzzle.  I gotta believe, this piece will not fit.  Asking that he be a puppy when he wants to be the big dog.  

[macdaddy]

[sturt]

Ringer just happens to have posted yesterday a write-up on RW's status and mindset...

 

[AHF]

19 hours ago, sturt said:

So, we've heard from the "Just Say No" contingent.

Does an "I'd consider it" contingent exist, or no?

Consider me in the “just say no” contingent.  Ball dominant and an inefficient scorer is a bad combo for someone who doesn’t defend.  The ego is the fundamental barrier.  Has been even when he was in his prime.

[sturt]

3 hours ago, AHF said:

someone who doesn’t defend.

I will stick up for RW on this lone point.... his defensive numbers up until last season had been surprisingly stout, if not outright good.

[bleachkit]

4 minutes ago, sturt said:

I will stick up for RW on this lone point.... his defensive numbers up until last season had been surprisingly stout, if not outright good.

He's a tremendous athlete, very strong as well. You would think he has the tools to be good on defense.

[sturt]

3 hours ago, AHF said:

 The ego is the fundamental barrier.

I really do see the comparison that the Ringer writer made as spot-on... it's Melo all over again.

[AHF]

1 hour ago, sturt said:

I will stick up for RW on this lone point.... his defensive numbers up until last season had been surprisingly stout, if not outright good.

His numbers are fine because they are based on counting stats and he is a strong rebounder and gets a nice collection of steals and blocks.  But I defy you to find a team for which he has played where the fan base thought he was a good defender.  Imo, he has struggled offensively off the ball badly but also had consistent struggles man marking as a defender throughout his career.