If the Los Angeles Lakers keep Westbrook, “let him cook”

The Los Angeles Lakers may still trade Russell Westbrook, but there’s not an obvious deal out there (although I would suggest they see if the Hornets still want to dump Gordon Heyward’s contract). At the end of the day, they might decide that the best move is to ride out the last year of Westbrook’s deal and max their cap space for next summer. If that turns out to be the case, here’s a suggestion.

The pick and roll has been a staple of NBA offenses for decades, mostly because it’s just about impossible to stop if run properly, with the right players. Basically, what is needed is a ballhandler who can break down a defense with quickness and a big who can finish at the rim, and occasionally pop outside to sink a jumper. Easy peasy.

At his best, nobody has been better at breaking down defenses over the past decade than Russell Westbrook. Nobody would pretend that Westbrook is as quick as he was when he played for the Thunder back in the day, but he’s still capable of getting into the lane.

As a pick and roll partner, you could do worse than Anthony Davis. When healthy, Davis has been a beast as a finisher, and he was a decent three-point shooter until the last year or two.

There are a lot of ways this idea could go south, but to borrow an NFL catchphrase, “let Russ cook,” might be worth a try. The bright side of the arrangement would be, of course, that, hanging out on the weakside in case the defense overcommits to Westbrook or Davis, would be that LeBron guy. Now, you might be asking why LeBron James would be cool with a decoy role.

The easy answer is that James is about to turn 38 and has missed huge chunks of the past two seasons. Letting other guys do the bulk of the ballhandling and bullying underneath the hoop might allow him to play something closer to a full season. It might even make him more likely to break the all-time scoring record, since taking fifteen shots a game for seventy games leads to more points than taking 25 shots a game for forty games.

The more nuanced answer is that expecting Russell Westbrook to change is like asking me to give up ice cream. You can make all the plans you want, but they go up in smoke as soon as we drive past a Dairy Queen. If James really wants to be thought of as the GOAT, showing that he can be the one to adapt his game to maximize his teammates would be a solid step in the right direction. If it helps the Los Angeles Lakers make a deep playoff run, all the better. Maybe it even juices up Westbrook’s trade value.

There’s a historical precedent for this with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Going into the 1971-72 season, the Lakers were considered to be out as a contender. Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, and Wilt Chamberlain were all on the wrong side of 30, and the Bucks with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar looked to be on the verge of a dynasty. But coach Bill Sharman convinced Chamberlain—no slouch when it came to ego—to focus on defense and rebounding so that there would be enough shots for West, Baylor, and Gail Goodrich.

To say it worked out would be an understatement. Even though Baylor’s knees forced him to retire early in the season, the Lakers went on a 33-game winning streak, which is still the NBA record, and won 69 games and the NBA title. It’s certainly a long shot for this Laker team to match those results.

But at this point Draft Kings’ Sportsbook has the over/under for the Lakers at 45.5 wins. In a loaded Western Conference, that translates to a play-in berth or a first-round exit. In Laker Land, that means trying something else.  Plan A is still finding a trade for Westbrook that brings back someone who can help. Until that happens, this should be Plan B.