Lakers Trade Rumors: Russell Westbrook Ignores Speculation As 2022 Deadline Nears

The addition of Russell Westbrook hasn’t worked out for the Los Angeles Lakers. L.A. has a disappointing .500 record halfway through the 2021-2022 NBA season. The situation in Los Angeles has gone so poorly that there’s been speculation of the team trying to move the former MVP just months after acquiring him.

Earlier this season, the Lakers expressed “covert interest” in putting Westbrook in trade talks with executives from other teams, The Athletic’s Sam Amick reported last week. Westbrook, however, isn’t concerned about being traded again.

“I never worry,” Westbrook told The Athletic Wednesday. “Do the job. Be professional. Every year, my name is in trade [rumors]. It never, never, never seeps into how I approach what I do."

He added, “Regardless of if [a trade] did happen or if it didn’t happen, nothing’s going to change my mentality or my purpose. I feel like I have a purpose that’s bigger than basketball and I always keep that as my forefront regardless of what happens inside of pro sports.”

It’s extremely unlikely that Westbrook will be moved by the Feb. 10 trade deadline. Few teams would be willing to take on Westbrook’s contract, which has a $47 million player option for next season. Plus, LeBron James has been a proponent of Westbrook and might have been a driving force of the Lakers’ decision to acquire the guard in the first place.

The Lakers are Westbrook’s fourth team in three years. While NBA superstars are constantly switching teams because they leave in free agency or force their way out of cities, Westbrook has been traded for various reasons.

The Oklahoma City Thunder sent Westbrook to the Houston Rockets in the summer of 2019 when they decided to tear down the roster and rebuild. After one season in Houston, Westbrook asked for a trade and was sent to the Washington Wizards. In 2021, the Wizards traded Westbrook to the Lakers, who wanted to add a third star to play alongside James and Anthony Davis.

Davis has missed a month with a knee injury and wasn’t playing up to his standards before getting hurt. James has been on a tear since returning from injuries of his own, averaging 30.7 points in December and 31.6 points in January while shooting well over 50% from the field.

Los Angeles remains out of the playoff picture, in part because of how Westbrook has played. Westbrook’s 18.7 points per game mark his lowest scoring average in 12 years. In five January games, Westbrook is averaging 15 field-goal attempts and just 12.4 points per game.

Westbrook is third in the NBA with 4.4 turnovers per game and sixth with 8.1 assists per game.

Westbrook last missed the playoffs in the 2014-2015 season. One of the best regular-season players of his era, Westbrook averaged a triple-double in four of his previous five seasons before joining the Lakers.

“We’re all trying to figure it out as a team, as a unit, to be able to say, ‘OK. How can we figure this out?’ ” Westbrook told The Athletic. “And I know I’m the one who has got to make the biggest sacrifice — and I understand that — so I’ve got to be able to figure out a way to be able to make the best out of it and make the best for this team and that’s it.”

Through 42 games, the Lakers are the No. 7 seed in the West. Los Angeles is two games behind the No. 5 seed Dallas Mavericks.