Los Angeles Lakers Reportedly Doubling Back On Russell Westbrook Trade Plans

Los Angeles Lakers guard Russell Westbrook has been the subject of trade rumors for the better part of the season, though it now appears that he is safe from the chopping block.

Sam Amick of The Athletic recently reported that Westbrook may be staying in Los Angeles beyond the trade deadline.

"According to a source with knowledge of the Lakers' plans, Westbrook's play this past month has made it increasingly unlikely that he will be traded before the league's Feb. 9 deadline," he wrote.

Westbrook started off the season as a starter to dreadful effect as the Lakers dropped their first three games against the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers in quick succession.

Over that period, the nine-time NBA All-Star averaged 10.3 points on a putrid 28.9% field goal shooting, 6.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and two steals with a plus-minus of minus-5.3, which suggested that the Lakers played like a team who were down 5.3 points when Westbrook was on the floor.

On October 28, head coach Darvin Ham opted to have Westbrook come off the bench – a controversial move at the time.

The Lakers would gain their first win of the season in an 11-point victory over the Denver Nuggets on November 2 and the New Orleans Pelicans in their next game with Westbrook logging a plus-minus of plus-18 and plus-4 respectively.

Though Los Angeles had a mixed bag of results since having Westbrook be their sixth-man point guard, the Lakers found stability in a position of need and are just a few games away from the 10th spot in the West.

Welcoming back Dennis Schroder to the lineup after dealing with a thumb injury was also a massive plus on their end as it allowed Ham to be more experimentative with his lineups, but keeping Westbrook as a sixth man appears to be the plan moving forward.

Since October 28, Westbrook's plus-minus differential improved to minus-2.4 while having averages of 15.2 points on a much more palatable 41.7 percent shooting, 5.8 rebounds, and 7.9 assists.

While the sample size of three games as a starter to 22 off the bench, the results cannot be denied and Westbrook's willingness to buy into the role has removed the arguably unfair assessment that him starting is the sole cause of the Lakers' issues.

As noted by Amick, this mentality by Westbrook was foreseen by Lakers owner Jeannie Buss as she was unwilling to move on from him in the offseason.

"This is why Lakers owner Jeanie Buss was known to be reluctant to give up on Westbrook in those days leading into training camp when they came so close to doing the well-chronicled deal with Indiana that would have sent Westbrook to the [Indiana] Pacers in exchange for big man Myles Turner and sharpshooter Buddy Hield," Amick added.

The Lakers still have a long way to go from being credible postseason contenders, and it will be up to the front office to be creative enough to solve their problems.