Lakers News: Skip Bayless Joins The Skeptics On The Russell Westbrook-Patrick Beverley Pairing

And Patrick Beverley responds...

Finally, a good Skip Bayless take has emerged! The Fox Sports 1 talking head weighed in with an insanely (for him) measured, considerate opinion on the fit of current Los Angeles Lakers point guards Patrick Beverley and Russell Westbrook, both of whom started on their respective teams last season. Beverley has been traded twice this offseason from his 2021-22 home with the Minnesota Timberwolves, first to the Jazz and now to the Lakers.

The Lakers have $60.1 million in salary money committed to the somewhat redundant duo of 34-year-old Beverley and 33-year-old Westbrook. New head coach Darvin Ham has raved about Westbrook, seemingly the odd man out now in L.A. on a pricey expiring deal, and has alluded to the possibility of playing Westbrook alongside Beverley at times.

Shockingly, recent media scuttlebutt suggests that Ham may opt to start Westbrook and Kendrick Nunn in his backcourt on opening night, instead of, say, the more defensive-oriented Beverley and Austin Reaves.

Bayless, for one, does not think the fit will ultimately last. The always-quotable Patrick Beverley as usual had to have the last word on the issue:

Naw Skip I have a good feeling about this🙏🏾🏀 https://t.co/HXXTmtEEW8

— Patrick Beverley (@patbev21) September 8, 2022

Bayless is really being relatively generous in his assessment of the duo's future together, speaking to Beverley's openness to sharing the Lakers with Westbrook. Bayless posits that the issue will be Westbrook, not Beverley, if and when Beverley begins absorbing some of Brodie's minutes at the point. Westbrook averaged 34.3 minutes a game last year, his lowest output since the 2013-14 NBA season, but if the Lakers want to win, they'll probably need to slash that stat to 20-25 minutes a night.

Should L.A. really decide to punt on this season by not offloading Russ's contract (which they should, no matter how many first-round picks it takes), the former 2017 MVP, two years removed from his last All-Star appearance, would clearly be best suited to a bench role. Here's hoping Westbrook is amenable to that. Or, better yet, that L.A. just trades him before training camp opens later this month.

Beverley did offer up a rebuttal to Bayless in defending his new teammate, but Bayless is right. Beverley will cut into Westbrook's minutes, and Westbrook will grow frustrated (probably after trying to be a good soldier for a few weeks).