Lakers

LeBron James has said the Los Angeles Lakers will not be shutting it down but it does appear that the Russell Westbrook experiment is nearing an end.

He went on to describe Westbrook as the “biggest obstacle” to a Wall buyout, given the Lakers star is the only player whose contract would be realistically tradeable. Joel Embiid and James Harden have quickly proven themselves to be one of the most destructive tandems in the game while Tyrese Maxey has emerged as a star in waiting. “That would allow them to sign a rotation piece to the non-taxpayer mid-level, and another player to the bi-annual exception,” the report added. With that in mind, it will make it somewhat easier for the Lakers to move Westbrook on and start building around James and Anthony Davis again. According to Fischer, Westbrook was firmly against the idea of coming off the bench for the Lakers this season and has “publicly chafed about being sidelined during fourth quarter play”. According to Bleacher Report’sJake Fischer, Westbrook and the Lakers’ front office have “mutual interest” in finding him a new home in the trade market over the summer.

The latest rumors suggest that Russ might want out of Los Angeles even more than Lakers fans want him out.

So instead, they opted to take the chance and hope that their highest-paid player could find his rhythm. The games this week should be more than enough to prove that. Well, here we are almost at the end of the season, and Russ is nowhere close to finding it.

It was another case of coming up just short for the Lakers (27-34) following their 109-104 defeat at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks Tuesday night.

Including LeBron, four of the five Lakers starters finished with double-digit points. It was another case of coming up just short for the Lakers (27-34) following their 109-104 defeat at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks Tuesday night. LeBron James led all scorers with 26 points (his 27th-straight game of 20-plus points) and added 12 rebounds, five assists, and a steal, good for his 17th double-double of the season.

With each mounting loss in Los Angeles, the noise around the Lakers' future only grows louder, despite.

League observers have pointed to this offseason as a greater opportunity for the Lakers to shed Westbrook's contract, when they will be eligible to move their 2029 first-round pick. James does, for now, appear destined to remain in Los Angeles for the coming years. If the Lakers fail to advance beyond the play-in tournament, changes within the franchise are surely on the horizon. Any suggestion for Westbrook to come off the Lakers' bench would never have been entertained by the guard, sources said, and Vogel's staff never seriously broached the subject with him. The Lakers have already shown a willingness to stretch Luol Deng's contract, which finally slips off Los Angeles' books this year, although that came under Mitch Kupchak's stewardship. While Pelinka's acquisition of Anthony Davis certainly helped power the Lakers to the 2020 NBA championship, his tenure leading Los Angeles has been checkered with costly decision-making. There has been growing speculation about one name to replace Pelinka as Lakers general manager: Omar Wilkes, the current head of basketball operations for Paul's agency, Klutch Sports. Wilkes has been described as somewhat of a compromise between that ironclad Lakers family and Klutch's operation. To be clear, the Lakers have not contacted him for any position. Whoever's to blame, there's clearly a personality disconnect between Westbrook and the coaching staff. You can't do that to people, and then expect them to work with you when you join their side." The same doubt extends to the futures of embattled head coach Frank Vogel and Russell Westbrook. However, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation strongly denied Wilkes' candidacy to replace Pelinka, citing his hands-on role within Klutch's collegiate recruiting efforts.

This trade idea would certainly help the Lakers prepare for the future, but it would be an incredibly bold move on both teams.

But what would motivate the Heat to make that sacrifice? But he is still LeBron James, the guy that led Miami to 4 NBA Finals appearances and back-to-back titles. That often comes with the expense of draft picks and a whole lot of money.

Metta is the latest athlete to dip into the NFT market, but his comes with a little added benefit.

"We have the NFT with the sneaker that comes with it. In partnership with Blank Soles, Metta will be releasing an NFT. Blank Soles describes the NFT launch that features a Panda on their website. His mental and physical toughness was unparalleled on the court, and that led to plenty of success in Los Angeles.