Come To A Mutual Buyout Agreement That Saves Lakers Half Of Westbrook’s Contract

At the end of the day, if the Lakers really want Russell Westbrook gone and they are unable to trade him, they may have to just face the facts of buying him out of his contract. 

However, if they are unable to trade Westbrook in the offseason, the Lakers might as well keep him during the 2022-23 season and at least try to make things work. 

LeBron James is going to be 38-years-old next year and assuming Anthony Davis can stay healthy for a change, maybe the Lakers could solve this puzzle with Russell Westbrook by putting the ball in his hands and allowing him to run the offense. 

Better yet, put Westbrook on the bench and have him be the Lakers’ “sixth-man” in a way, allowing him to play solo in rotations without both James and Davis. 

LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Lakers Could Take Bold Action To Move On From Russell Westbrook

Not only does this allow Russell Westbrook to take advantage of opposing team’s second-units, but he would have the freedom to do virtually whatever he wants on the floor offensively since LeBron James and Anthony Davis would not be in the game. 

Buying Russell Westbrook out of his contract would be a “last resort move” made by the Lakers in order to just get Westbrook out of Los Angeles and try to at least salvage something heading into the 2022-23 season. 

Ultimately though, the two paths the Lakers face are either trade Russell Westbrook to the Rockets or keep him and try to make things work out next season.