Russell Westbrook is now coming off of the bench for the Lakers. He’s been quite successful in his new role and now is the favorite to win 6th man of the year. But even with his improved play, the Lakers can’t win a championship with him on the team.

Now although it’s nice to see Westbrook playing better, the Lakers still have a losing record. Now if he continues to play well enough to win 6moy, or at least be a candidate, I do think the Lakers could dig themselves out of the hole and make the playoffs. But championship is out of the question.

Having a big 3 with one of those players being a 6th man is not a very common championship formula, but it has happened. The Spurs big 3 with Manu Ginobili comes to mind. Kevin Mchale with the Celtics. You could argue that Lamar Odom was the 3rd best player on those back to back Lakers championship teams. But the difference between those teams and this Lakers team, is that those teams had very good role players. This current Lakers team doesn’t have the Bruce Bowens, Robert Horrys, Derek Fishers, Stephen Jacksons, Shannon Browns, Trevor Arizas. This team might not even have a DJ Mbenga. After Lebron, AD, and Westbrook, there is a dramatic decrease in talent. A lot of these players are barely NBA players. They’re still trying to prove that they belong in the league. And the reason for this is Russell Westbrook’s contract. All these great championship 6th men weren’t max players. They for sure weren’t supermax players. So these teams could afford to pay for good role players. That’s not the case with this year’s Lakers. Westbrook is getting paid $47 million this season. More than Lebron or AD. Even if he does win 6th man of the year, he’s not giving you $47 million of production. Having your highest paid player give you the 3rd most production isn’t a formula for success. If you have 3 max players, those 3 max players need to give max production if you expect to be in contention for a title. You can’t expect much from the rest of the team because they’re all minimum contract players. So if you’re not getting max production from your max players, you’re not getting decent production from your role players, then you end up in the state the Lakers have been in the last 2 seasons. A team with a losing record, fighting for a position in the playin tournament.

The only way to be able to get good role players is either to find good free agents willing to sign a veteran minimum contract. But that’s not gonna happen unless your team is already a contender. Or you gotta trade Westbrook. You gotta turn that $47 million into multiple role players. Which is why many people have been begging for a trade, even with Westbrook playing better. I have nothing against him. I’m happy for Westbrook. He looks like he’s having more fun, and the games have been much more enjoyable to watch. But the Lakers aren’t winning anything meaningful with him on the team. So if Rob Pelinka is serious about not wasting Lebon’s time as a Laker, he needs to trade Westbrook. And we’ve all heard the same names over and over. Buddy Hield, Myles Turner, Josh Richardson, Doug McDermott, Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward. All those are good options. Some better than others. But we need to use that $47 million dollars, spread that wealth, and turn it into multiple reliable players that can help Lebron and Anthony Davis on a consistent basis.

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