Lakers: Russell Westbrook Should Go To The Bench -- But Will He?

The Los Angeles Lakers have a Russell Westbrook problem on their hands.

L.A. may still be considering a deal that ships out Westbrook in exchange for a handful of Utah Jazz veterans, though it the teams are reportedly haggling over exact terms of the future first-round draft picks Los Angeles would include in such an exchange.

Should the Long Beach native and UCLA alum stick around town through the start of the 2022-23 regular season, he would make the most sense as a sixth man. In that capacity, the 2017 MVP could serve as an energy-changing scorer and playmaker, pouring in buckets against opposing reserves. His weakness (defensive, late-game decision-making, shooting) outweigh his strengths in the starting lineup.

Patrick Beverley, a 3-and-D vet who can adeptly defend either guard position and functions best as a secondary, not primary, ball-handler, should start. Lonnie Walker IV, Austin Reaves, and (if healthy) Kendrick Nunn should duke it out for the other backcourt spot in training camp. Reaves has the defensive edge, Nunn is the better scorer, and Walker may have the highest ceiling of the three.

Gary Sheffield Jr. of OutKick and Fox Business also believes that Westbrook would fit most optimally as a sixth man for the Lakers, as he told Bally Sports' Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson during an interview for a Bovada Sports segment:

Russell Westbrook the 6th man? @GarysheffieldJr makes the case!

cc @ScoopB pic.twitter.com/qbSMn4tfRA
— Bovada (@BovadaOfficial) September 14, 2022

Here's the highlight of that quote:

"He's gotta be a one-man show with LeBron off the floor. Maybe you can keep [Anthony Davis] on the floor with Russ. Russ needs a solid pick-and-roll option and he needs shooters around him... LeBron James wants the ball in his hand. Well if you've got two guys on your team in your starting line-up who are both ball-dominant players, you have to look at it and say, 'What best suits Russell Westbrook and the Lakers?'"

This is exactly the right approach. James functions best as a primary playmaker, and the ideal set-up last year when Westbrook was brought in was that the 6'3" point guard would operate as a secondary ball-handler who would slash to the basket or cut around James to keep opposing defenses busy. But Westbrook can't shoot, and other teams were quite aware of that fact, so they opted to sag off him during the 2021-22 season and load up on James and whatever shooters L.A. had available.

A lineup featuring Russ and a roll man, be that Davis or centers Damian Jones or Thomas Bryant, plus shooters flanking them on the wing, makes sense in spot minutes.

But even this would ultimately be a short-term solution to a longer-term problem. The Lakers even without Westbrook have plenty of competent guards, and are hurting for shooting depth elsewhere on the roster. A trade sending to the Jazz for shooters would cure what ails L.A.