Los Angeles Lakers

Despite having preseason championship aspirations, the 31-49 Los Angeles Lakers have already been eliminated from playoff contention and are in the midst of an eight-game losing streak.

One of the reasons for the Lakers' struggles was the play of Russell Westbrook, who has a career-worst 15.0 player efficiency rating, per Basketball Reference.

On Friday, ESPN's Ramona Shelburne did a deep dive into what went wrong for the Lakers this season and wrote about Westbrook. Of note, Shelburne reported the Lakers lost faith in the point guard as a ball-handler early in the season.

"I think they lost faith in Russ as a ball handler after the first few weeks," a team source told Shelburne. "And he knew it because they took him off the ball and started asking him to stand in the corner or set screens."

The Lakers orchestrated a blockbuster deal with the Washington Wizards last offseason to acquire the nine-time All-Star and 2016-17 NBA MVP.

Westbrook has essentially become a scapegoat for the Lakers' problems, although the reasons L.A. sits 18 games under .500 go deeper than just one player.

Still, he's taken his fair share of criticism, and there also have been some heated press conferences as the losses mounted.

"I think the problem with Russ has been Russ's response to all of it," a team source told Shelburne. "He doesn't leave a window for people to have empathy for him."

"The reality of the season was that Russ has been in a dark corner, and he doesn't know who to trust or who to believe," the source added. "Then, if something doesn't go well for him, he backs up a little more."

Outside of Westbrook, injuries to Anthony Davis and LeBron James left the team shorthanded. The Lakers didn't get enough consistent production from the group of role players and veterans assembled around the Big Three this offseason either. The defense, which was among the best in the NBA in 2020-21, wasn't nearly as stout this season.

Ultimately, the Lakers must go back to the drawing board, and at this rate, it's hard seeing Westbrook back in purple and gold. A fresh start for both sides might be the best bet moving forward.

LeBron James' season is officially over.

The Los Angeles Lakers ruled James out of the final two games of the regular season Friday, leading to him tweeting that he wished his historic season could have led to more wins.

James finished the regular season with averages of 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game in 56 games for a Lakers team that currently sits 31-49. His scoring average was the second-highest of his career and had him in contention for the scoring title all season.

Because James failed to play the required 58 games to qualify, he is ineligible for the scoring title. 

The Lakers' season was defined by injuries and an ill-fitting roster that never came close to coalescing. Anthony Davis and James both missed extended time with injuries, all while failing to find chemistry with Russell Westbrook when they were healthy. James and Westbrook were a particularly bad match given their propensity for having the ball in their hands.

The Lakers have one net-positive season in James' four years with the franchise: the 2020 NBA championship. Otherwise, the team has missed the playoffs twice and been eliminated once after barely making it into the playoffs as a No. 7 seed.

This offseason will likely see the Lakers fire Frank Vogel, leading to the third coach of James' L.A. tenure, and completely overhaul the roster for a fourth time. 

As much as his individual greatness continues to astound, the results have not been there from a winning perspective as much as anyone hoped. 

While not an official starting group, LeBron James did come up with three NBA legends he would have liked to play alongside in a dream scenario. 

During the latest episode of The Shop (starts at 30:35 mark), the Los Angeles Lakers star cited Scottie Pippen, Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway and Kobe Bryant as players he wishes he could have played with. 

James also mentioned Michael Jordan as someone who "was crazy," but the comment comes in the midst of talking about Pippen's skill set. 

In explaining his choices, James specifically cited Pippen and Hardaway as the two players from the previous generation that really remind him of his game. 

"Like, I saw myself in Pippen and Penny—tall guards, point forward, get everybody involved, defend all type of positions," James said. 

Pippen's size and length allowed him to matchup with guards and small forwards. He was a defensive wizard, despite never being named NBA Defensive Player of the Year. The Chicago Bulls legend was named to the All-Defensive team 10 times in 17 seasons, including eight first-team selections. 

Hardaway was a prototype for what a modern point guard could do, but he was doing it in the mid-90s with the Orlando Magic. The four-time All-Star was a 6'7" facilitator who was also capable of averaging 20 points per game. 

At the peak of his career, Hardaway shot better than 50 percent from the field and averaged more than seven assists per game (1994-96). He made four consecutive All-Star games and two All-NBA first-teams before injuries derailed his career. 

LeBron James' quest to win the NBA scoring title will come up short because of his ankle injury. 

The Los Angeles Lakers announced Friday that James will miss the final two games of the season with a sprained ankle but is expected to make a full recovery. 

Following the announcement, James tweeted he "gave everything" he had and vowed to be back for his 20th season in the fall. 

The Lakers are mired in an eight-game losing streak and were eliminated from play-in contention Tuesday with a 121-110 defeat to the Phoenix Suns. 

James will end up missing eight of the Lakers' final 10 games this season. He sprained his ankle in the second quarter of a March 27 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. The 18-time All-Star was able to stay in the game, finishing with 39 points in 42 minutes. 

After sitting out the next two games, James returned to the lineup April 1 against the Pelicans. The 37-year-old had 38 points, eight rebounds and four assists in 40 minutes. That will be his final game of the 2021-22 season. 

NBA rules require a player to appear in at least 70 percent of the team's games (58 in an 82-game season) to qualify for the league leaderboard. 

James will finish this season with 56 games played. He ranks second in the NBA in scoring average (30.3 points per game). This will be the second-highest scoring season of his career, trailing only his mark of 31.4 points per game in 2005-06. 

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid leads the league in scoring with 30.4 points per contest. 

The Lakers (31-49) will miss the playoffs for the second time in four seasons since James signed with the team. They have made the postseason only twice since 2013-14. 

Los Angeles will host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday and play the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena on Sunday.    

Russell Westbrook's "prideful" nature could reportedly prevent him from accepting a contract buyout from the Los Angeles Lakers.

Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reported Friday that people close to Westbrook "expressed pessimism" he would accept a buyout.

The Lakers traded for Westbrook last summer in a blockbuster they hoped would give them a legitimate Big Three.

The move has been an unmitigated disaster. Westbrook never fit in on the floor, particularly with LeBron James, and struggled adapting to a new role as the third wheel. He's averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists, numbers that far overrate his on-court impact as he's become a source of near-constant scorn among Lakers fans.

It's a virtual certainty that the Lakers' first two moves of this offseason will be firing coach Frank Vogel and exploring a trade for Westbrook. Suitors will be few and far between because of Westbrook's enormous $47.1 million salary. The Lakers, should they want effective players in return, will have to attach future draft picks to Westbrook.

A buyout wouldn't benefit either side. The Lakers could use the stretch provision on Westbrook and pay him $15.7 million per year over the next three seasons, but that doesn't improve their cap situation. They would still not have any meaningful cap space to sign free agents; it would simply save ownership some money on a tax bill.

As far as Westbrook saving face in the matter is concerned, that's out of the window. He's likely headed to his fifth team in five seasons, which is unheard of for a future Hall of Famer. Even if he avoids a buyout, it's obvious the Lakers are giving him away because they don't think he moves the championship needle.

It's even possible the team he winds up traded to next season has no plans of actually using him on the floor and he winds up having to negotiate a buyout anyway. 

The Los Angeles Lakers have yet to shut down LeBron James and Anthony Davis for the remainder of the season.

"We'll see, we haven't ruled that out," head coach Frank Vogel told reporters of the two stars. "We're going to see how they are feeling."

The Lakers, who have three games left, already confirmed James (left ankle sprain) and Davis (right mid-foot sprain) will be absent for Thursday's matchup with the Golden State Warriors.

After failing to qualify for the play-in tournament, Los Angeles has nothing left to play for.

The last two games are, however, rather significant to James. The threshold to qualify for the scoring title is 58 games, and the 18-time All-Star is stuck on 56 appearances. 

Only 0.1 points per game separate James (30.3) from Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid (30.4). If LeBron does suit up Friday and Sunday, then he could overtake Embiid.

However, NBA insider Marc Stein reported Wednesday that James would be "likely to continue sitting" in the event the Lakers are eliminated from the postseason picture, regardless of any implications on the scoring race.

At this point, there's little else that needs to be said about Los Angeles. This is one of the most disappointing seasons for any team in recent memory, and Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer already reported Vogel might be a lame duck.

Whether James and Davis play or not, everybody on the Lakers is basically running out the clock until the offseason arrives.

The Los Angeles Lakers have reportedly not ruled out using the stretch provision and waiving Russell Westbrook this offseason if they fail to find a trade partner.

Marc Stein reported the Lakers could use some of those savings—Westbook would cost about $15.7 million over the next three seasons if stretched—to retain Malik Monk, who is set to be an unrestricted free agent.

The Westbrook experiment went bust with the Lakers in 2021-22 and is arguably the single biggest reason they've been eliminated from playoff contention. The 2017 MVP was the most consistently healthy Laker but also the most derided, failing to mesh on the floor with LeBron James and seemingly losing his confidence as the season progressed.

Westbrook is averaging 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game, solid counting stats that ultimately overrate what's been an empty season. Defenses consistently showed him no respect when he was off the ball—which was often the case when he shared the floor with James—and he deflected blame during periods of criticism.

The Lakers almost have to trade Westbrook at this point; the fanbase turned on him months ago, and he's an albatross eating up more than a third of the team's cap.

That said, the idea of stretching him doesn't really solve anything. Monk far outplayed his minimum contract this season, but he's not a future All-Star. Eating $15.7 million in dead-cap space to retain a player who doesn't move the needle toward championship contention, without also adding talent elsewhere, seems like a mismanagement of funds.

The reality of the situation is that the Lakers are going to have to attach draft picks—yes, plural–for a team to take on Westbrook and send back usable veteran role players who work next to James and Anthony Davis. 

The stretch provision would save Lakers management some coin but do nothing to help the actual basketball team. That's probably a nonstarter for LeBron and AD. 

The Los Angeles Lakers are already beginning their roster teardown with three games left in the season.

The Lakers announced Thursday that they are waiving veteran forward Trevor Ariza. The 36-year-old appeared in just 24 games this year as one of the many Los Angeles players to be hobbled by injuries.

In his 18th season, Ariza averaged just 4.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 19.3 minutes per game.

After signing with Los Angeles on a veteran's minimum contract in August, Ariza's season was derailed before it even began. He missed most of training camp with an ankle injury before undergoing an arthroscopic procedure in October that ruled him out for two months.

Ariza's struggle to stay healthy was just a small part of the Lakers' disappointing season. After coming into the year with expectations of competing for an NBA championship, the team failed to even qualify for the play-in tournament.

Los Angeles had to deal with the prolonged absences of star players LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who both missed extensive time throughout the season due to various injuries.

But even in the rare stretches that the Lakers were relatively healthy, they failed to find any amount of consistency. The veteran-laden roster struggled to defend elite teams and couldn't match the energy levels of younger groups. Los Angeles blew multiple big leads and suffered disappointing losses to teams it was favored to defeat.

Waiving Ariza is the first step for the Lakers towards revamping its roster for next year. The open spot will likely be used to bring in a young player who can fit alongside James, Davis and Russell Westbrook.

It's no secret that the Los Angeles Lakers need to make some major changes after a disastrous 2021-22 season that will see them miss both the playoffs and play-in tournament. 

But will one of those changes be entertaining trade offers for superstar big man Anthony Davis?

"I mean, I don't think they're planning on doing anything [with me]," Davis told ESPN's Dave McMenamin on Thursday. "I don't know, man. F--k, I don't know."

It's hard to imagine the Lakers having any desire to give up on a star like Davis, even if his injury history continues to be a concern. More likely, rebuilding around the duo of LeBron James and AD would be ideal. 

The question is whether that's even possible. 

Russell Westbrook would be the obvious piece to move, assuming he exercises his $47 million player option. Given that Westbrook probably wouldn't get half of that on the open market after a poor 2021-22 season, he's going to exercise that option. 

But that option is also going to make it extraordinarily difficult to trade Westbrook. And the Lakers don't exactly have many sweeteners to entice a team to take on that deal, though they could deal first-round picks starting with their 2027 selection. 

NBA reporter Marc Stein (h/t NBA Central) wrote Thursday that the Charlotte Hornets were a team to watch on the Russell Westbrook front, despite already having a young and exciting point guard in LaMelo Ball. 

The more likely option, however, is that the Lakers will have to package future picks to essentially salary dump Westbrook on a tanking team with cap space to spare. The Lakers would probably have to take some salary back—and any team taking on Westbrook's huge salary should try to pry 2027 and 2029 firsts from the Lakers—but if they manage to pull off that trick, it would free them up to chase other veterans in free agency. 

If they can't find any other takers for Westbrook, however, they're stuck with him. It's a very real possibility. And since the team already owes $139.5 million to four players—LeBron, Russ, AD and Talen Horton-Tucker—and thus has very little cap room to work with in free agency, the only other real option for shaking up the roster is trading AD. 

"I can't control those things. That's an upstairs thing. A Klutch, Rich Paul thing. My agency," Davis noted. "I mean, my job is to go out and play basketball. Obviously I love it in L.A. If that's something that they're considering, then we'll have a conversation about it. I don't know what they're talking about, what's the plan."

Nobody really knows what the plan is for these Lakers. They only know that the last plan flopped immensely, leaving them in choppy waters going forward. 

Russell Westbrook could be on the move from the Los Angeles Lakers in the upcoming offseason, and the Charlotte Hornets are reportedly a potential destination.

NBA insider Marc Stein (h/t NBA Central) reported Thursday the Hornets are a "team to watch" as a trade partner for the Lakers.

Westbrook has a player option on his contract for 2022-23 that would pay him more than $47 million next season.

Whether Westbrook remains in Los Angeles will be one of the biggest storylines of the offseason. 

He was an awkward fit alongside James, another ball-dominant player, and his outside shooting struggles continued with a 29.8 percent clip from three-point range.

His 18.5 points per game is also his lowest mark since his second season in the league in 2009-10.

If another team does come calling for Westbrook, it will likely choose to believe his performance this season was caused by his situation rather than a decline in talent.

The 33-year-old is one of the best players of his generation with a resume that includes a league MVP award, nine All-NBA honors, two scoring titles, three assist titles, nine All-Star selections and a spot on the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team.

Perhaps a change of scenery will help him rediscover that form, and the Hornets are a fringe contender that could use a veteran presence as they look to take the next step in the Eastern Conference.

With LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges leading the way, they are 40-39 and preparing for the Eastern Conference play-in tournament as the No. 10 seed.

Westbrook could provide some star power and will surely be motivated next season as he looks to bounce back from a disappointing campaign for the Lakers.