Has Russell Westbrook endedupbeing too crucial for the Lakers to trade?

Russell Westbrook and the Los Angeles Lakers appeared to be on the edge of a breakup simply a couple of months earlier. 

The previous MVP hadahardtime strongly in his veryfirst season in the Purple and Gold, publishing some of the worst numbers of his profession as the Lakers missedouton the playoffs with a 33-49 record. 

However, after months of being the center of trade speculation, Westbrook has relatively turned a corner, accepting a function coming off the bench, and now balancing 15.9 points and 7.9 helps as a reserve. 

On Thursday, Skip Bayless stated he sees it as a wonder that Westbrook hasactually been able to turn things around this season and credited Lakers’ novice coach Darwin Ham for assisting redefine Westbrook.

“The renewal of Russell Westbrook is as stunning to me as how bad he was last year,” Bayless stated on “Undisputed.” “He was a leading 75[all-time player] He’s certainly a slam dunk Hall of Famer … and he was the MVP. Last year, I’ve neverever seen a excellent gamer fall so far so rapidly as he did. It was one day after another.

” … He was the worst 3-point shooter. He was the fourth-worst free-throw shooter. He was an albatross around LeBron [James’] neck last year. It’s difficult to gottenridof that. It’s difficult to increase above that.”

Westbrook’s play off the bench has corresponded with the Lakers’ current turn-around, in which they’ve gone 9-6 following a 2-10 start to the season. As Westbrook hasactually grown to possibly endedupbeing a critical gamer onceagain, concerns about his future in Los Angeles aren’t focused on simply which trade plan the Lakers needto relocation him for, however likewise if the Lakers must thinkabout keeping the previous MVP. 

Shannon Sharpe marvels if the 34-year-old Westbrook even desires to stay with the Lakers beyond this season. 

“I feel Russ is accepting this function with the Lakers,” Sharpe stated. “I still believe his secret objective is to be a starter someplace if somebody offers him comparable cash and the possibility to start. I understand he enjoys being house. He’s from the LA location. He’s house, the kids, the partner, he’s extremely family-oriented. He gets to go house every videogame and see the spouse, see the kids and see the household. But I believe deep down inside him, he believes, ‘I’m a starter. I still can begin in this league and I understand I can.'”

But at this point, Sharpe thinks that Westbrook has nearly endedupbeing too crucial to the Lakers in his brand-new reserve, stating that it’s likewise enabled Anthony Davis to have a renewal this season, too. 

“I’m really pleased that he swallowed his pride and accepted this function,” Sharpe stated. “He hasn’t been excellent, he’s been terrific in this function. He simply provided you 20 [points], 14 [rebounds] and 5[assists] He provided you that. We’ve seen him have 15 helps. We’ve seen him have 11 helps. If I’m not incorrect, I believe he’s leading the group in helps as the 6th guy. 

“With that being stated, and we’ve seen ADVERTISEMENT’s development into what he’s endupbeing, the bulk of those helps are coming from Russ duetothefactthat Russ will attack the basket and drop the ball off. He’s been terrific with ADVERTISEMENT in the pick-and-roll.”