Kevin Durant And Russell Westbrook: Return Of The Showtime Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers could see a return to the glory days of “Showtime” if Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook force their way there.
We all know what Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are capable of together.
They’re the reason the Oklahoma City Thunder are title contenders year after year despite the presence of other elite teams such as the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference.
There wouldn’t have been a run to the NBA Finals just a few seasons ago had Durant and Westbrook not been determined to stare down LeBron James and the Miami Heat across the court.
Related Story: 25 Best Players to Play for the Oklahoma City Thunder
They’re both superstars of the highest order and have the talent and professionalism to change the course of a franchise from doomed and decrepit to lively and worthy.
It’s inevitable, however, that rumors and a lack of championship success could pull the dynamic duo apart and force one or both of them to relocate from their “quiet” lives in OKC to a larger destination where they would be the centers of attention in their respective markets.
More from Oklahoma City Thunder
- 3 Steps for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to enter the MVP race next season
- 5 NBA teams on the rise that will surprise everyone in 2023-24
- 5 players who will challenge Victor Wembanyama for Rookie of the Year
- What does Oklahoma City plan to do with an abundance of picks?
- Thunder Summer League: Notes from Holmgren’s chaotic yet magical play
Things are now beginning to come around full circle, as ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith said on a local radio broadcast that he’s heard it’s entirely likely Durant could choose the popularity of Hollywood and sign with the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency.
Oh, and Westbrook would follow suit the next season.
As if that wasn’t a big enough bombshell, word has now come out of Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski that the Warriors are a seemingly large threat to sign Durant this offseason barring the correct moves made to create the cap space necessary to ink him to a max-level deal.
In other words, the Internet is about to explode due to the significant level of gossip going around.
Which that’s what all of this is at its core. This is nothing but “whisper down the alley” from those close to Durant and Westbrook regarding their own private interests and life plans. Neither of them have said at a press conference that they’re interested in so and so location or franchise.
The rumor last week was Durant could join with the New York Knicks because he said rookie phenom Kristaps Porzingis was “like a unicorn” in the NBA.
What makes sense here? Which of these moves if any of them actually give Durant a realistic shot at continuing to build his legacy and win championships? What about his buddy Westbrook? Is it logical for the two to remain together as teammates despite beliefs that they ultimately can’t win playing alongside each other?
Let me be very clear: I’ve driven the “Durant and Westbrook can’t win a title together” bus plenty of times. By now I’ve probably run that thing down to “E” on the gas gauge. Before this season Westbrook never gave Durant his full share of the spotlight as the team’s primary alpha dog and scoring option.
Notice how I said before this season.
I never thought it was possible, not because of his gifts but because of his ego and attitude, that Westbrook could re-invent himself as a floor general and focus on being a distributor rather than a scorer at the point guard position.
This year Westbrook is averaging 9.9 assists per game, which would finish as the top mark of his career, while turning the ball over 4.3 times per game.
That’s a large number but given how often he has control of the basketball along with the fact that he’s doing his job more as an orchestrator instead of an out-of-control driver the Thunder have learned to live with his mistakes in favor of his ball movement and assist output.
Bottom line: Westbrook has taken real steps in his evolution as a point guard and it’s done wonders for Oklahoma City’s offense as well as their efficiency.
Currently the Thunder are scoring 109.5 points per game, which ranks second in the league behind only the Warriors. Not only are they scoring at a high rate but they’re doing it effectively, shooting 47.6 percent from the field, ranking third behind the Warriors and Spurs.
Compare those numbers to last year and you’ll find they aren’t the same. In fact they’re much improved.
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/3/2016.
Given the fact that Durant missed a lot of time last season is important because he makes up a large part of the team’s total offense but you could look back at previous seasons and not see the same positive relationship between scoring and shot percentage.
If Westbrook is willing be a passer first and a scorer second then that changes the game completely. No one is more explosive pound-for-pound in the NBA than him. He can change speeds and get to where he wants to in the blink of an eye, draw enough of the defense around him and pass the ball out to the open shooter or driver all while being an offensive terror himself.
Who’s going to stop that consistently, especially with a dominant player like Durant waiting in the wings to shoot or crash the lane?
It seems as though they’ve learned to properly complement one another for the benefit of the team’s success (Oklahoma City is third in the Western Conference right now with a 37-13 record).
So why would they want to leave each other to pursue a different situation?
Durant to the Warriors would certainly mean the end of that relationship. Stephen Curry won’t be supplanted by Westbrook as Golden State’s lead guard and it’s highly unlikely the Warriors would part ways with the idea of proven spot-up shooting around Curry in favor of another athletic driver like Westbrook.
The cap space situation would be horrific in New York City if the Knicks were to go after both Durant and Westbrook. Porzingis will eventually demand a payday and the contract of Carmelo Anthony would get in the way of signing both players.
That leaves Los Angeles as the only other market large enough to encompass both stars, and the Lakers wouldn’t back down from that kind of financial challenge if it meant multiple titles in the coming years.
Should the Lakers pursue Durant and Westbrook (I don’t see why not) they could have a fairly imposing squad to build around the two superstars.
Rookie D’Angelo Russell has shown plenty of promise as a combo guard who can shoot from deep and make plays when needed, and sophomores Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson look like NBA-caliber difference makers on a good team.
Throw in another draft pick from this year if it doesn’t fall out of the top three (the Philadelphia 76ers own the Lakers’ protected pick) and we’re talking about a youthful collection of talent that could compete for titles just as long if not longer than the Warriors.
Where this could get messy is if Durant wouldn’t want to leave his old team in disarray and a sign-and-trade is worked out for his services, meaning at least two of those assets would be on the move to Oklahoma City along with another player to make the money work like Lou Williams or Nick Young.
If that’s the case then the situation doesn’t look as enticing depending on who walks out the door. But picture this lineup for a second: Randle as a playmaking center, Durant as the stretch power forward taking advantage of all his mismatches, Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram at the 3-spot, and Westbrook and Russell at the guard positions. How scary is that lineup in a few years?
Certainly that unit has more potential than Golden State’s group. Yes, they’re getting better, but essentially we know what they can do because of the system coach Steve Kerr has in place. This lineup for Los Angeles, as fictional as it is, would challenge if not overthrow the Warriors in the West at some point.
And with all of the versatility in the starting lineup (each of those players can play multiple positions on the floor) any head coach could come up with a number of different combinations to effectively take on any team in the league.
Everyone’s made fun of the Lakers because they haven’t attracted that marquee free agent like they did in the past. Whether that’s solely on upper management or not that doesn’t mean they’re doomed for NBA purgatory forever.
This is L.A. we’re talking about, the city of stars and high-profile flair and expertise. Why wouldn’t Durant and Westbrook want a part of something special in arguably one of the greatest cities in the country?
That’s what makes the most sense. If they truly are inseparable and want to reign over the league then why not take their talents to somewhere that has the cap space and spending power to put quality players around them?
With that collection of athleticism and youthful exuberance there’s no doubting the fast-paced terror that would ensue nightly in the Staples Center.
More hoops habit: 15 Players Not Living Up To 2015 Summer Contracts
“Showtime” back in L.A.? It’s possible, should Durant and Westbrook make the best choice for their future.