Lakers News: Russell Westbrook Diagnosed With Sore Left Hamstring
Sources inform Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports that Westbrook has been diagnosed with a sore left hamstring, but that he is suffering no structural damage. Haynes reports that Westbrook's status going forward is "day-to-day," meaning there's a chance he will not be available for L.A.'s season opener, this Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors.
The 6'3" point guard most recently suited up as a reserve for L.A. in the team's 133-86 loss to the Sacramento Kings Friday. He exited the contest early in the first quarter, having gone 0-of-2 from the field, though he did dish out two assists and grab one board in 4:53 minutes of action.
New Lakers head coach Darvin Ham was wise to attempt to implement Westbrook this way, as a chance-of-pace ball-handler who could make an impact distributing the rock without taking away from the playmaking of L.A.'s best player, All-NBA starting forward LeBron James. The plan to stagger the minutes of this duo makes sense, as Westbrook is relatively ineffective off the ball, but James is better on it. 6'1" veteran point guard Patrick Beverley started in Brodie's stead.
Los Angeles is still probably looking to trade Westbrook and his expiring $47.1 million contract at some point during the 2022-23 regular season, but it appears the team is waiting for a proposed deal to blow them away before sending out the necessary draft capital that would most likely be required to complete an exchange.
In the mean time, Westbrook will rehabilitate the hamstring and hope to make an impact for his hometown team however Darvin Ham sees fit.
