Russell Westbrook is joining LeBron James and Anthony Davis in Los Angles, California.
How will he fit, and what will the Russell Westbrook Era lakers look like?!
Russ to LA
LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and now out of nowhere Russel Westbrook has joined the Lake Show…
A LeBron big three is back like it never left, adding the ringless king of the triple double… Russ after one season in DC is the centerpiece of a massive deal to complete the James-Davis-Westbrook trio.
Averaging 22.2 points, 11.7 assists, and 11.5 rebounds Russel Westbrook is the lakers answer to Brooklyn's addition of James Harden, and to help manage the regular season load for an aging LeBron, and a fragile AD.
The lakers have added a hungry superstar, who is there for one reason and one reason only, to win a ring... but did the lakers solve one problem, by adding another?
The day of the trade it was reported the Lakers were interested in Buddy Heild a 40 percent shooter to fill the glaring hole the Lakers have outside the arc. Instead the addition was Russ, a career 30 percent shooter...
The Westbrook way has never found its path to a championship, but with 4 trips to the conference finals the man has done plenty of winning when it matters, combined with the king, the brow and Rob Pelinka's other additions... he has now joined the most unstoppable Super Team Yet.
The lakers of 2021-22 will look completely different than the Lakers of 2020-21, considering the haul it took to land Westbrook:
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Lakers had agreed to send guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, forward Kyle Kuzma, center Montrezl Harrell and the overall No. 22 pick to the Washington Wizards for Westbrook and two future second-round picks. ESPN
Building a Super Team
Call it a retirement home, call the stars washed... you cant say that about Kendrick Nunn a 36 % shooter who averaged 14.6 points for the Heat, and Malik Monk who averaged 11.7 pts on over 40 percent shooting last season.
The moves made by the Lakers, have filled in a solid squad with many different rotation options for the big 3...
Aside from the young snipers I already mentioned, the Lakers have brought back Dwight Howard who continued producing in Philadelphia with 7 points and 8.4 boards in 17 minutes played, and what feels like a long time coming... the Laker's front office have linked old friends Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James in their 18th season.
Melo, still good for a bucket dropped 13.4 points per game for the Blazers last season.
The Laker's and LeGM have brought back one of their most promising young star's Talen Horton Tucker, and have returned Marc Gasol to continue keeping some of the center position duties off of AD's shoulders, which the load will continue to lighten with the re-addition of Dwight Howard.
Austin Reves and Joel Ayayi have signed two way contracts with the Lakers after surprisingly going undrafted;
Reaves who scored 18.5 points per game at Oklahoma and Ayayi who scored 12 points per game and grabbed 6.9 boards per game with the Georgia Bulldogs, add depth and at lot of potential upside off the bench.
Kent Bazemore, Wayne Ellington, and Trevor Ariza are all good for about 9-10 points off the bench, and with solid 3 point percentages help limit the drop off when Lebron, AD, or Russ aren't on the court.
Lineup
Russell Westbrook, Kendrick Nunn, Austin Reaves PG
The point guard position is not one that is lacking in Los Angelas, and if it is not being played to par the King will take over. Russell Westbrook is by default the point guard at this point, not having seen the squad together on hardwood.
But we will know very early if the fit is better, with Russ at the one or the two, and weather or not the King will man the one or the three.
My only hangup is if i was running the Laker's personally, I would want the ball in LeBron's hands every time down the court// as much as humanly possible; but Russell Westbrook is a damn good Point option, not looking to let his average assists fall below 10.
The fit with these two pass fist killers, couldn't be better, and anyone who says different doesn't know ball...
How it looks on the court is still undetermined, whether it is reminiscient of Mike and Pippen playing deady wing roles, with a 7 footer under the bucket, or more like the bosh-wade-james Heat... it will be deadly!!!!
Talen Horton Tucker, Wayne Ellington, Malik Monk, Joel Ayayi SG
Now everything being said out of the lakers camp, is that THT is expected to take a jump this year, and if the style is right, take over as the full time Lakers Shooting Guard.
How big of a leap he will make from the 9 points and 2.8 assists he had in 20 minutes per game last season, I don't know, but every word about Talen Horton Tucker since day one at Lakers camp, is that he is different... This is his year to prove that.
But clearly the Lakers have made an insurance plan, with 7 guards on the roster, 8 if you include Lebron, with Wayne Ellington, Kendrick Nunn and Malik Monk ready to step in and take a bulk of the SG minutes.
This will all be negated if LeBron moves to Point, and Russ moves to Shooting Guard.
Lebron James, Kent Bazemore, Trevor Ariza SF
The king back in his natural position?! Maybe..
As the lineup sits, LeBron is the only SF that is built to handle the starting job, and Carmelo is just not who you want defending quick modern day 3's like Kawhi, Jason Tatum, and Jimmy Buckets.
Kent Bazemore, and Trevor Ariza will definately get their minutes, but if the laker's are relying on either of them as a starter, that is definitely a problem.
Strong Forward is a position, the Lakers are still shopping for more depth behind the King, and or a solid starting option, to give the Lakers more line up flexibility.
Anthony Davis, Carmelo Anthony PF
Carmelo Anthony might actually average 20 points off the bench for the Lakers, and squeak into the lineup from time to time, you have no idea how pumped I am that Melo is a Laker.
As always, Anthony Davis' upside is a top 5 player in the NBA, his downside is that he's always on the sidelines in his street clothes. If, and it is a big if, Anthony Davis stays healthy, there is not a team in the NBA that can beat the Lebron, Davis, Westbrook Super Team.
And adding Melo to come in and maybe let up 15, but drop 20 while the tree that is AD gets some rest is huge on a nightly basis, and will really add up come playoff time.
Dwight Howard, Marc Gasol C
Dwight has been shipped in and out of LA like an instagram thot throughout his career, and every time he is back he produces. An unfathomably perfect fit for the King and Anthony Davis, it was a travesty the Lakers let him get away for the last season.
Marc Gasol, another solid center, combined with the services of Dwight Howard can hold down the paint in Los Angelas especially alongside Anthony Davis.
If the Lakers used one of their remaining roster spots on landing another big man, either a PF or C, there really isn't much more they can do to improve.
Prediction
These Laker's have been branded an experiment, but the experiment has been done, in 2008 and then with again with Anthony Davis in 2012... The King and Russ have proven to play well together in Olympic competition, their styles mesh perfectly actually, and with 9 more years of tread on the tires for all three of them, the only limiting factor is health.
Even if one of the big three goes down, *cough AD cough* the Lakers as a whole have improved drastically since last season, and are potentially a better team than 2 years ago.
Adding shooting depth in Kendrick Nunn, Malik Monk, and even Carmelo Anthony is going to give the King another dimension to add to the arsenal; along with the addition of a third superstar in Russell Westbrook the Laker's are in finals or bust mode.
Not only willThe Los Angelas Laker's make the NBA finals, there is not a team in the west that can take a game off of them in the playoffs.
A Milwaukee, or Brooklyn finals against these Los Angelas SuperLakers will end in under 6 games with another LA Bron James Championship.
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