russ is good pick up for lakers but i still think a healthy nets team will win. This will be epic if its nets and laker final. would feel like lakers and celtics again.

Russ and Lebron and probably the two worst superstars you can put together on a team.

Still not a bad trade for what they gave up but lakers have 0 shot to win again

yea b/c this ever happens with lebron. If he does he will sit on the bench.

Russ has done it everywhere hes been and hes played tons of great players.

The lakers will have huge spacing problems. Westbrook is the worst volume 3point shooter in the history of the NBA. 3400 attempts at a 30.5% clip. He loves to shoot them but he cant make them. Hes going to be open to jack them all the time.

I thought the Lakers were going to get Buddy. He would of been a really nice fit. Russ will be good for the regular season and to keep Lebron rested. In the playoffs its going to be ugly unless they just sit him on the bench as you said.

Russ's efg% in the regular season since his MVP* .477 .468 .493 .474
Russ's efg% in the playoffs since his MVP* .444, .410, .450, .363

he is a meaningfully worse player in the playoffs. when the stakes get higher his play becomes even more toxic because teams do stuff like this more exploitatively:



lakers could be a first round upset, again. casuals will use it to criticize lebron's legacy. russ will get traded to the bulls this time next year.

the reason I'm asterisking Russ's MVP* is that he got it for "loyalty" rather than that snake Durant, but...

Reading comprehension my guy. Russ is only good if your goal is to make a bad team respectable, or a good team more fun.

He is worthless without the ball and neutered without spacing.

This is precisely how I feel. Hield would have been scary for them because deep down I think Vogel/AD/Bron turn him into a decent defender, and he'd have been by far the best shooter on that roster.

Now they have a roster where their best shooter might be the only guy you want with the ball in his hands in crunch-time.

afa it being the worst trade in modern history, I think it might be given the opportunity cost. Lakers should have been the favorites to at least make it to the finals next year, and now they've not only pissed that away, but they've put a toxic contract on the books for the next couple years.... Lebron's last two chances.

Houston's Russ trade was bad, but they didn't have a championship staring them in the face at the time.

The more I reflect on this trade the more I am convinced it's the dumbest move in NBA history.

I love it. **** the Lakers.

Lakers are gonna win the title and Russ will average a triple double in said Finals.

You heard it here first!

You willing to true MySpace lock that?

We'll have to see who they can sign with the mini-mid level and what buyout guys they can get, etc....I feel like people overrate who they can get off that.

I would've rather just re-signed Schroeder, kept KCP and maybe dealt Harrell/pick/Kuz for Hield...Maybe toss THT into a deal. Just seems like an all-in panic type move when they didn't need one.

I guess we really don't know what ownership is thinking with the luxury tax, even though Lakers print money it is still more of a family owned biz than bunch of billionaire PE bros.

Just seems lame for the playoffs against the best defenses when Russ has nowhere to be on the floor. And he probably makes them worse defensively too.

I gotta see how they fill out the roster. IF they can get DeMar DeRozan to sign the vet min for a year then I may LOCK IT UP of the MySpace Variety.

Willing to bet Russ on a new team at beginning of 22-23 season vs Lakers title. Wash if they both happen lol

The more I think about this trade the worse it seems for the Lakers. Harrell is obviously a 0 in the playoffs but he does soak up minutes in the regular season. Kuzma is actually playable in the playoffs and while being overrated his entire career he was probably underrated at the time of the trade. And KCP wasn't flashy but he hit enough 3's and played enough defense.

Westbrook on the other hand was the least efficient high volume player in the league. The Wizards scored more points per possession with him off the floor. He isn't capable of defending anymore and his perceived strengths on offense overlap almost completely with Lebron's. I have no clue what value he is bringing besides letting Lebron coast a little in the regular season.

This isn't even factoring in the 1st they gave up.

I'd definitely take the side of Westbrook being gone by the 22-23 season over the Lakers winning a title next year. Next year is wide open but the Lakers seem to be getting worse every offseason since winning the title.

Lol at u

Westbrook is going to be so happy to play in his hometown L.A. that he will be reborn as a basketball player and as a man.

Y'all gonna owe him an engraved apology.

I was right about Dwight in his return with the Lakers and I'll be right about Brodie.

it'll be like the heat big 3 except its 2014 wade with a lobotomy

Hot rumor:

DeRozan AND CP3 are considering joining the Lakers on 1 year vet min deals!

Also Melo to the Lakers is likely a DONE DEAL! Olympic Melo!

Rumor is that De’Aaron Fox could be on the trading block due to the Kings drafting Davion Mitchell.

How about Julius Randle for Fox?

Knicks get to feature Obi “What’s Poppin!?” Toppin and see what he has to give while solving their point guard issue.

Kings would love to get an All-NBA PF in Randle, right?

Draft Mitchell so you can trade Fox. Never change Kings.

Melo and Russ would be elite inefficiency.

LeBron would bring out Olympic Melo!

Not possible. Melo is about Melo. Can't see beyond that. He'd have been lebron if he could.

Russ, Derozan, Melo, Lebron, Davis

a big 5