What Russell Westbrook’s Not Perfectly Fitting in the Los Angeles Lakers Mean for LeBron James and Anthony Davis

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Much of NBA history from the past two decades collided in the audacious pairing of Russell Westbrook, LeBron James and Anthony Davis – the Los Angeles Lakers – years-long debates swirling together, the most polarizing player in recent memory, truisms that have hardened over time to be tested anew. .

The first is one of James’ greatest axioms: if he’s the best shooter on Earth, you haven’t built the right team around him. Lakers half-built roster; They have five players, one of whom is Alfonzo McKinney. They will likely re-sign some or most of their existing free agents, only because trading three players for Westbrook leaves them with few other options.

Some of these guys — Alex Caruso, Wesley Matthews and Markieff Morris — are solid 3-point shooters of various sizes. Another – Taleen Horton Tucker – is a young woman who is fearless enough to expect improvement.

Caruso and Horton-Tucker (restricted free agent) free agencies will be interesting. The sources said both would have multiple suitors. With a broadly limited ceiling room, a complete mid-level exception—worth about $10 million—would be a powerful tool. Some agents and team executives anticipate a climate in which teams may offer all or most of the mid-level at their starting point and demand a quick answer. If a competitor did that to Caruso, would the Lakers match or immediately overtake him? If they bargained, would it cost them?

The Lakers are headed toward testing at least the axiom of James’s shot with final formations centered around the James/Davis/Westbrook trio. Some of these formations may even include a center tied with a rim in the mold of Dwight Howard, Gavel McGee, and Andre Drummond – another current free agent. Lakers could offer Drummond a little more than the bottom line for veterans, or dive into the mid-level taxpayer exception — a chip they should probably use on their shooter instead.

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The Lakers relied on smaller midfield formations than Davis during their run to the 2020 championship when the Houston Rockets and then (briefly) the Miami Heat threatened them. Some appeared in a shaky firing point guard in Rajon Rondo. This is a familiar title-winning formula.

But Westbrook is different – a guard who doesn’t shoot much. His introduction may require the Lakers to lean more toward building Davis in the center. And so, one of those ten-year, hype-filled stories sang again: How willing are James and Davis to slip from their favorite spots?

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