Lakers

'Not who I am': LeBron 'set up' after horror Westbrook moment as Lakers go from bad to worse.

The Blazers opted to repeatedly guard Westbrook down the stretch with the 7-foot Jusuf Nurkic in a surprise tactic. I don’t like to lose, I hate to lose... According to StatMuse, the Lakers are 30th in offensive rating, 30th in field goal percentage, and 30th in three-point percentage. that’s not who I am.” ‘James added: “You guys can write about Russ, and all the things you guys want to talk about Russ. especially the way we had this game.

Damian Lillard scored 41 points, Jerami Grant made a driving layup with three seconds left, and the unbeaten Portland Trail Blazers kept the Los Angeles ...

James has scored at least 10 points in 1,099 consecutive games since January 2007, and he remains on track to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the top scorer in league history this winter. And Dame was Dame down the stretch.'' "We were getting some of the same shots (down the stretch) we were getting (earlier),'' James said. Grant, who finished with 16 points, drove and scored the tiebreaking bucket. Patrick Beverley, James and Russell Westbrook all missed shots for LA down the stretch. Lillard carried the Blazers for long stretches, scoring 12 points in the final 5:06 before Grant finished it.

The Los Angeles Lakers fell to 0-3 after losing to the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena as LeBron James was visibly annoyed with the ...

[Denver Nuggets](https://www.marca.com/en/basketball/nba/denver-nuggets.html?intcmp=MENUPROD&s_kw=en-nba-denver-nuggets) on Wednesday in search of their first win of the season, while the Trail Blazers take on Nikola Jokic and company on Monday for the tail end of a back-to-back. Jerami Grant regained the lead for Portland with just a few seconds left in the game and James went on to miss the shot that would have forced overtime. Damian Lillard, who scored 41 points for a second consecutive game, would go on to hit a huge triple before James retaliated with a dunk to tie the contest. Westbrook, 33, had the opportunity to wind down the game clock with just over 20 seconds left to play and a one-point Laker lead, but instead missed a jumpshot with 18 ticks left on the shot clock. Anthony Davis was a menace on the defensive end, recording six blocks and two steals to go with 22 points and 10 boards. [ Los Angeles Lakers](https://www.marca.com/en/basketball/nba/los-angeles-lakers.html?intcmp=MENUPROD&s_kw=en-nba-los-angeles-lakers) fell to 0-3 after losing to the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena as LeBron James was visibly annoyed with the team's mediocre performances.

After falling to an 0-3 2022-23 regular season record today thanks to a stunning 106-104 last-second loss to the Portland Trail Blazers today, ...

Team vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka has come under fire in recent days for his questionable roster construction, as critics have (rightfully) pointed out that All-Star forward LeBron James thrives offensively when surrounded by shooters, which frees up the paint for James to drive to the rack for easier buckets. Spears of ESPN](https://twitter.com/MarcJSpears/status/1584329378116251648) reports that Lakers point guard Russell Westbrook, who has had a miserable two games following a decent regular season debut, has actually tied the single-lowest field goal percentage (with at least 25 field goal looks) across any two-game run by a Laker during the last 50 years. Spears writes that Westbrook's 4-for-26 field goal run between the Lakers' 103-97 Thursday loss to the Los Angeles Clippers and today's 106-104 defeat to the Portland Trail Blazers number ties him with the other worst-ever Lakers shooting run: a prior two-game shooting nadir from Westbrook himself, this past January.

LeBron James was not happy with how the Lakers performed in their 106-104 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. Here are four takeaways from the game.

You have to drive the ball with a purpose. You have to cut with a purpose. [Lakers coach Darvin Ham](https://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/story/2022-05-28/darvin-ham-new-lakers-coach-lebron-james) was asked how he felt about his team’s execution with the game on the line and there for the taking. “You have to screen. “I got to move on to tomorrow, how I can get better tomorrow and get ready for this tough road trip that we have coming up in Minnesota and starting in Denver,” James said. So, just because you have plays, a multitude of plays available, you still have to make them work. zero for two. “Just because a play is in your pocket, you have to execute it. Once I drive out the tunnel, I’m going to leave it here. Anthony Davis was short with his answers postgame. I mean, you just lost,” James said. So, that’s the mood right now.

The Lakers shot 18.2% from outside on Sunday as they watched a lead dwindle late against the Blazers to fall to 0-3.

"If you're around a group of guys that are excited after a loss, then that's the worst business that you can be in. "There's no way we're supposed to lose this game," Davis said. "That's the big difference." "For one person to be in their feelings about when and where and how they should be in the game, I don't have any time for that." And with his ability to explode and get to the basket still being at a high level, I wish he would've did that. I don't care what happens throughout the course of my season or throughout the course of my career, I hate to lose. That's not who I am." "I'm not out there just running around, that's for sure." One of those misses came from Westbrook with 27.3 seconds remaining in the game and 18 seconds left on the shot clock. "That's the one shot that teams want you to take and want to give up -- long 2s, contested 2s, what have you. "I just wish we would've attacked the rim directly," Ham said. "We don't have time for feelings or people being in their feelings.

The Los Angeles Lakers do not need to "John Wall" Russell Westbrook and send him home completel, but Coach Darvin Ham needs to close out games with the ...

The Lakers may not have a solution to their shooting woes, but closing games with Westbrook is not the answer. The Lakers need to make better use of that cap space with more and shooting via a trade. When it's time to win, he needs to surround James and Davis with the Lakers' most productive players. The more significant challenge lies in the hands of Pelinka and the front office. For now, Ham needs to better manage his roster down the guts of the fourth quarter. However, Ham needs to hurry up and reach the obvious conclusion that today's Westbrook on today's Lakers just doesn't work. During the 2020 NBA playoffs, former Lakers head coach Frank Vogel guarded Westbrook with a center to derail the Houston Rockets. The Lakers are finishing games with teams barely giving any attention to Westbrook on defense. The Los Angeles Clippers used that tactic with Ivica Zubac in their recent 103-97 win over the Lakers. Once Westbrook re-entered, the Lakers' offense all but ground to a halt. The Los Angeles Lakers do not need to banish Russell Westbrook like the Houston Rockets did with John Wall last year. Despite those offensive struggles, the Lakers held a one-point lead with 30 seconds left.

The Los Angeles Lakers remain winless to start the 2022-23 NBA season after losing yet another home game, this time to the Portland Trail Blazers (106-104) ...

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LeBron James missed a buzzer-beater to tie the game as the Los Angeles Lakers lost 106-104 to the Portland Trail Blazers, taking the LA team's season record ...

It is outside the paint where they are let down, and Westbrook is not the only one failing from range. “Obviously, Dame is back and he’s pretty much putting the league on notice,” said Portland coach Chauncey Billups after the match. But the Lakers could not keep a hold of their lead. “[Westbrook] got some good looks and wasn’t able to knock them down. But he was immediately beaten by Jerami Grant, who turned James and beat Davis with his lay-up to put the Trail Blazers 104-106. But the night was all about Lillard, who put up consecutive 41-point games and extended the Trail Blazers’ winning start to three games.

With every brick and loss, the Lakers' hole gets a little deeper. If Los Angeles can't find a way to get rid of Westbrook, there's no way to salvage this ...

If the Lakers get aggressive and decide to put Davis on the trade block attached to Westbrook, maybe the Bulls would have interest in the package. With a smart Westbrook trade, they won’t be title favorites, but they’d be more formidable in the loaded West. The place was dumpster fire in the years prior to LeBron’s arrival, and since they won a title in 2020 they’ve dismantled the roster. League sources say that before the Jazz sent Bojan Bogdanovic to the Pistons, the Lakers offered Westbrook, a future first-round pick, and second-rounders for Bogdanovic and others. Sources expect the Lakers and Jazz to resume talks later in the season with some combination of other players discussed. At the time, league sources told The Ringer that the Hornets wanted to dump long-term salary with the expectation that they’d be paying big money to re-sign Miles Bridges, but he remains unsigned due to his But someone, anyone, needs to privately tell Westbrook to just stop shooting jump shots off the dribble, especially early in the shot clock, and instead focus on what he’s best at: attacking the basket and playmaking. To put Westbrook’s 41.2 percent contest rate in perspective, only two other players on record have had less than 50 percent of their jumpers contested: Joakim Noah, at 48.7 percent in 2013-14 with the Bulls, and Andre Roberson, at 48.8 percent during the 2016-17 season with the Thunder. Westbrook has made only 38.3 percent of his midrange jumpers in his career, and the number has dipped further since he joined the Lakers. The problem is that play is most effective with shooters and spacing: Westbrook has made only one of 12 shots from 3 this season, and the rest of the Lakers roster has made only 22.6 percent of their shots from downtown. The other was an egregious pull-up 2-pointer with 18 seconds left on the shot clock and 30.2 seconds left in the game that caused every Lakers fan on the planet to sound like Darth Vader screaming NOOOO! Westbrook isn’t the only problem, but he’s by far their biggest and most glaring one.

Westbrook's offensive woes are a growing problem that the Lakers desperately need to solve. Sunday's loss was the latest example.

[Denver](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/nuggets/) (twice), [Minnesota](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/timberwolves/) and [New Orleans](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/pelicans/) on deck. Since then, Ham has played Westbrook at the expense of the team’s offense and/or defense, particularly in crunch time. “For one person to be in their feelings about when and where and how they should be in the game, I don’t have any time for that. Part of the reason the Lakers hired Ham was to get through to Westbrook — at least temporarily — and to make difficult rotation decisions that former head coach Frank Vogel wasn’t always willing or empowered to make. It’s not just the shots that he misses — it’s the shots the Lakers are unable to create because his defender is in the way. Westbrook has gone from being the elephant in the room to being the oxygen in the room. The easiest solution is to reduce his minutes, bring him off the bench and bench him in close games. “Shot selection is always a part of the game, no matter if it’s the last couple minutes of the game or the first few minutes of the game,” James said. The obvious flaw in that line of reasoning is that the Lakers were winning and had a chance to run the clock down to decrease Portland’s chances of tying or taking the lead. [Troy Brown Jr.](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/troy-brown-jr-VYZHoNMwJDDOVeZ0/) with 4:42 remaining in the game, the Lakers were up by eight. Ham later added: “That’s the one shot that teams want you to take and want to give up — long 2s, contested 2s, what have you. The Blazers scored on their next two possessions, and James missed a game-tying jumper, leading to a 106-104 Portland victory to drop the Lakers to 0-3 this season.

Victories by the Blazers and Suns at Crypto.com Arena in L.A. revealed a pair of brightening stars, an NBA milestone and much more.

Booker finished with 35 points while shooting prolifically from the field (13-for-21), from 3-point range (5-for-9) and from the free-throw line (4-for-4). Nurkic then grabbed a rebound off Beverley’s [missed 3-pointer](https://www.nba.com/stats/events/?CFID=&CFPARAMS=&GameEventID=671&GameID=0022200037&Season=2022-23&flag=1&title=MISS%20Beverley%2025%27%203PT%20Jump%20Shot) before finishing with [a putback](https://www.nba.com/stats/events/?CFID=&CFPARAMS=&GameEventID=676&GameID=0022200037&Season=2022-23&flag=1&title=Nurkic%20Putback%20Layup%20(6%20PTS)) off Jerami Grant’s blocked dunk. [NBA.com](http://nba.com/). And despite their 6-for-33 mark from 3-point range, the Lakers remained consistent with their ball movement (26 assists), paint presence (66 points) and free-throw shooting (16-for-20). [an open 3-pointer](https://www.nba.com/stats/events/?CFID=&CFPARAMS=&GameEventID=656&GameID=0022200037&Season=2022-23&flag=1&title=MISS%20Westbrook%2025%27%203PT%20Jump%20Shot), Nurkic rebounded the missed shot. Once Patrick Beverley made the team’s second 3-pointer [with 8:37 left](https://www.nba.com/stats/events/?CFID=&CFPARAMS=&GameEventID=424&GameID=0022200037&Season=2022-23&flag=1&title=Beverley%2026%27%203PT%20Running%20Pull-Up%20Jump%20Shot%20(7%20PTS)) in the third quarter, Lakers fans gave a dramatic standing ovation. If they don’t solve those issues soon, the Lakers could collect more losses this week in Denver (Wednesday) and Minnesota (Friday). James (31 points) and Davis (22 points, 10 rebounds, six blocks) played with the poise and aggressiveness the Lakers need from their stars. James (2-for-9), Lonnie Walker IV (1-for-5), Davis (0-for-3), Russell Westbrook (0-for-3), Kendrick Nunn (0-for-3) and Troy Brown Jr. [rank last in 3-point shooting](https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/traditional?dir=A&sort=FG3_PCT) (21.2%). [with three seconds left](https://www.nba.com/stats/events/?CFID=&CFPARAMS=&GameEventID=699&GameID=0022200037&Season=2022-23&flag=1&title=Grant%202%27%20Driving%20Layup%20(16%20PTS)). “Dame started the season letting the game come to him,” Billups said.

The trade market won't heat up for a while, but all eyes are on what is going on with Westbrook and the Lakers early. The latest from Shams.

[Hawks](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/hawks/), the [Suns](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/suns/) have recently been engaged in talks with the [Bucks](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/bucks/) on a potential Jae Crowder trade, sources said. [Pacers](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/pacers/) extensively discussed a potential deal sending [Myles Turner](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/myles-turner-LwTytE5qn88aGduz/) and [Buddy Hield](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/buddy-hield-AD3NeTjxgBd5qvz0/) to L.A. The Lakers and [Hornets](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/hornets/) held discussions about a possible three- or four-team trade during the summer, and hold him in high regard among their possible trade possibilities, but the dynamic Hornets guard’s availability will be entirely predicated on the franchise’s direction for the future and its play as the season goes on. So expect the Lakers to continue to keep tabs with the Spurs, Hornets and Pacers as a potential trade partner as the season wears on. Milwaukee has registered interest in the veteran forward [who has remained away from the Suns’ organization](https://theathletic.com/3627986/2022/09/25/suns-jae-crowder-training-camp-trade/) as both sides work toward a trade. And for the Lakers, the proper deal will take patience, strategy, internal resolve and growth. Potential trade partners across the league have wanted one or two unprotected first-rounders from the Lakers in all deal frameworks, which creates a battle over price and value. [Russell Westbrook](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/russell-westbrook-6Eb0XPY16UzzJWbc/)’s expiring $47 million deal and up to two unprotected first-round picks (2027, 2029). In the very early stages of the season, Westbrook has had some spurts of solid defense and energy plays, but has also shot just 28.9 percent from the field and 8.3 percent from 3-point land. 14, but the Lakers went back to Westbrook in a starting spot to start the season. Westbrook was used in a reserve role in the final game of the preseason in Sacramento on Oct. Those traits have been put to the test from the very beginning of his tenure.

The Lakers three-point struggles are at heart of the 0-3 season start but it was a known issue; Wednesday night sees the live NBA action return as Giannis ...

Once the books are clear of that at the end of this season it should afford Pelinka a little more flexibility but everyone can see how the Lakers are toiling right now and that fact in itself changes the conversation in terms of the value shooters will have for them. The report stated: "While Pelinka has been given the ultimate power to make these decisions, sources say there was a desire for the entire group to come to a consensus. He's nearly 38 and is still one of the most dominant physical specimens in any sport. Despite all of that, in the offseason the Lakers' front office chief was locked into a contract extension which stretches to 2026 – potentially an even more baffling move than the trade for Westbrook, a notoriously bad shooter. Of the players on the current roster to shoot at least six three-pointers this season, not one player has hit at better than a 30 per cent clip. They knew they did not need to close out and guard because their opponents just were not going to make many of the shots. For one person to be in their feelings about when and where and how they should be in the game, I don't have any time for that. It's been proved in the past that if you surround James with shooters, you have a good shot at winning a title (no pun intended). That's the one shot that teams want you to take and want to give up – long twos, contested twos, what have you. Despite having plenty of time to run a play which would allow him to drive to the rim, Westbrook – left unguarded by Jusuf Nurkic, essentially inviting him to shoot, missed a 15-foot pull-up jumper in what he later said was an attempt to go two-for-one. But going 6-for-33 from deep to fall to defeat against a rebuilding Portland Trail Blazers team is just not on for one with a history such as the 18-time champion Lakers. Westbrook finished with 10 points on 4-for-15 shooting, and the Blazers' key 10-point surge to take the lead came after the former MVP was subbed back into the game with 4:42 remaining in the fourth quarter.

A trade would need to wait several weeks, but the Oklahoma City Thunder could help Los Angeles' shooting struggles.

This is exactly the type of lift the Lakers could use off the bench. While the Lakers certainly like what Bryant brings to the table, he’s on a one-year deal. One player who could immediately begin to fix this issue is Mike Muscala of the Oklahoma City Thunder. There’s no question that Los Angeles is willing to make moves to improve the roster. [Marc Spears](https://twitter.com/marcjspears/status/1584328710433300486?s=46&t=Oemkoaww9GARILZMSOtSdQ), the Lakers’ 21.2% mark on triples is actually historically bad. The Los Angeles Lakers have struggled tremendously this season, starting out the 2022-23 campaign 0-3.

While Westbrook's pride powered him to nine all-star selections, the 2017 MVP award and an NBA-record 194 triple-doubles, it is now the leading cause of his ...

Later, Westbrook said that he “absolutely” felt that the move to the second unit had contributed to his injury. Leonard, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, is on a minute restriction, and backloading his minutes ensures that he can be fresh in the fourth quarter. Until a divorce frees all parties, Ham is the only thing standing between Westbrook and his worst impulses. Ham said that he had addressed the situation with Westbrook, who promptly returned to the starting lineup. After the Portland game, Ham said that he had put Westbrook back in late because he wanted “another athletic perimeter defender” to help switch defensively against Lillard. Compromises are necessary when stars age, and savvy players understand the need to evolve their games and expectations. Meanwhile, Phoenix Suns Coach Monty Williams benched Chris Paul for the final six minutes of a 107-105 win over the Dallas Mavericks on opening night. With a little more than three minutes left, Westbrook missed a three-pointer that quickly led to a Lillard three on the other end. Then, with Los Angeles leading by one point with less than 30 seconds left, Westbrook hoisted his final wayward jumper instead of milking the clock or driving to the basket. Ham’s first test came when he experimented with moving Westbrook to the bench in the Lakers’ preseason finale. Lakers Coach Darvin Ham subbed Westbrook back into the game with about five minutes remaining in regulation and Los Angeles leading, 98-90. Standing near midcourt, LeBron James and Anthony Davis turned their palms to the sky as if to ask, “Why?” The Lakers’ longtime play-by-play broadcaster, Bill Macdonald, moaned on the television broadcast: “No Russ, no.”

What they built before had stalled out, so in the past year Portland overhauled its roster. The Trail Blazers front office leaned hard into more athletic ...

[Darius Garland](https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/basketball/nba/player/51040/darius-garland) out (left eye laceration). [Zion Williamson](https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/basketball/nba/player/50955/zion-williamson). [Bradley Beal](https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/basketball/nba/player/29803/bradley-beal) had 27 for the Wizards, while Kristaps Porzinghis had 18 points and 11 boards. Willie Green also sat Jonas Valanciunas at the same time, went smaller with [Larry Nance Jr.](https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/basketball/nba/player/30183/larry-nance-jr) at the five and a bunch of bench guys, and almost pulled off the win. He had to pick up the scoring on Sunday with The most egregious example was with the Lakers up by one with :27 seconds left in the game and the ball, and Westbrook took a pull-up midrange jumper with :18 seconds left on the shot clock (he said after the game he was trying to go for a two-for-one). That was always going to fit just fine in Cleveland, which needed the additional shot creation and scoring. They are also playing with the edge of a disrespected team. He couldn’t be as aggressive defensively, which showed with the game on the line, tied at 104-104, and Grant went right at LeBron and got a shot up around Davis — it was the game-winner. There was palpable frustration in the Lakers’ press conferences and locker room. His biggest jumper of the night was a pull-up 3-pointer with :12.4 seconds left in the game to give the Trail Blazers the lead. The Lakers never figured out how to attack the Trail Blazers with Nurkic back like that.

With your Los Angeles Lakers reeling, it appears the team is still open to trading Russell Westbrook to a variety of its previous summer targets.

Why not add some depth and shooting along the perimeter for a team desperate for both? Were that to be on the table, should Los Angeles take the leap, even though it would mean the team would be missing out on a lot of 2023 salary cap space? If Charlotte's season is really going south, would it be willing to unload the contracts of, say, Rozier (making a reasonable $21.5 million in the first season of a four-year, $96.3 million deal)) and the oft-injured combo forward Gordon Hayward (earning a generous $30.1 million this year and $31.5 million next year) in exchange for Westbrook and the two future picks? This write thinks that pining for a 2023 free agent should not be the priority. So there is plenty of time for this team to fall apart. Charania notes now that Charlotte, currently 2-1, may be open to joining the "Tank-O-Rama For Wembanyama" should the club falter at some point this season.

The Los Angeles Lakers reportedly hold Charlotte Hornets guard Terry Rozier in high regard among potential trade possibilities.

One of the few players who would be deemed a “shooter” on the Lakers is two-way player Cole Swider. The Lakers and Hornets held discussions about a possible three- or four-team trade during the summer, and hold him in high regard among their possible trade possibilities, but the dynamic Hornets guard’s availability will be entirely predicated on the franchise’s direction for the future and its play as the season goes on. Adding just a couple of knockdown shooters would do wonders for this team going forward and the Lakers’ front office seemingly has an eye on doing just that.

Westbrook was benched for the final three possessions of Sunday's 106-104 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers – a game which dropped the Lakers to 0-3 on the ...

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The 6'10", 270-pound big man was the club's starting center in 2011-12, when Westbrook, Kevin Durant and James Harden led the franchise to its lone NBA Finals ...

Both players refused to adjust their games to deal with their declining athleticism, and struggled in bench roles before falling out of the NBA much quicker than they needed to. At this point, shutting down Westbrook until a trade can be worked out (where the Lakers' incredibly valuable 2027 and/or 2029 first round draft picks, not Westbrook, would be the key attribute in a deal for any rival GM) makes the most sense to this writer as well. During his 2016-17 MVP season, Westbrook averaged 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, 10.4 assists, and 1.6 steals a night, on .425/.343/.845 shooting splits. Former 14-year NBA center Kendrick Perkins spent parts of five seasons playing alongside Westbrook with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Now, one of his own former teammates wonders if Westbrook, sure to be a future first-ballot Hall of Famer, is even an NBA-level player anymore. Los Angeles Lakers starting point guard (for now) Russell Westbrook has been quite an eye sore in his first three games for L.A.

There is no denying that Russell Westbrook has been the most miserable part of your Los Angeles Lakers' 2022-23 season. L.A. is 0-3 from deep thanks in no ...

- Hosting the New Orleans Pelicans, November 2nd. I'll be charitable and call this another probable win. O'Connor mentions an oft-cited possible deal with the Indiana Pacers that could land big man Myles Turner and shooting guard Buddy Hield in L.A., though deals with the Charlotte Hornets, San Antonio Spurs and Utah Jazz also could make sense. So, adding in the Lakers' three losses thus far, L.A. The Nuggets' two best players, forwards Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson, are currently hurt, but could be back by then. The second-lowest jump shot contest rate this year, per O'Connor, is Denver Nuggets power forward Aaron Gordon -- at 60%. O'Connor hilariously (and accurately) calls Westbrook a "washed-up bricklayer who needs to be traded immediately for the Los Angeles Lakers to have any chance of saving their season." Overall, the former nine-time All-Star is averaging 10.3 points on .289/.083/.800 shooting splits in a career-low 28.7 minutes across L.A.'s three contests thus far, plus 4.3 assists (but also 1.7 turnovers) and 2.0 steals. may have been able to steal its 103-97 Thursday loss to its loathed rival, the Clippers, and/or been able to hold on to its late lead during yesterday's 106-104 home defeat to the Portland Trail Blazers, had Darvin Ham not felt compelled to play Westbrook during portions of both games' pivotal closing minutes. Neither opposing club viewed Westbrook as a threat from long range at all, and both were able to let their Russ defenders leave him alone outside the paint. Westbrook, a career 30.4% three-point shooter, has made just 29.8% of his threes or worse across the past six seasons on high volume. is 0-3 from deep thanks in no small part to the team's overall three-point shooting, a brutal 25-of-108 start to the year.

Danny Ainge has a winning problem. Ainge, a longtime Boston Celtics fixture both on the floor as a player during the 1980s and in the front office from ...

Someone who can play off the ball better (or is just more effective wit the ball in their hands) would be ideal, which is why Conley could make a bit more sense for L.A. If Markkanen is actually this good now, he'd be the top asset either team could offer. Rudy Gay would give the Lakers another stretch four option off the bench, as a career 35% shooter on 3.1 attempts. This writer thinks Malik Beasley, a 26-year-old an athletic shooting guard averaging 10.4 points a game on a .429/.385/.814 slash line over the course of his career, could also be an interesting fit. Markkanen is making a pretty reasonable $16.5 million this season and will be under contract through the 2024-25 season, so L.A. Another wrinkle that could throw a wrench into a potential Sexton deal: after agreeing to a $72 million deal in a sign-and-trade with the Cavs, Sexton is not trade-eligible again until January 15, 2023. needs: a floor-spacing stretch four who, through these first three games at least, is playing with incredible tenacity and flashing the kind of All-Star versatility in his offensive game (he seems newly committed to aggressively driving inside) that convinced the Chicago Bulls to trade for his draft rights as the seventh pick in 2017 out of Arizona. Los Angeles possesses two future first-round draft picks that will most likely land near the top of the lottery in 2027 and 2029. They look decidedly worse than the Jazz, but since they don't actually own the rights to their draft pick this year (the New Orleans Pelicans can swap picks with L.A. Your Los Angeles Lakers have already dealt with Ainge once since his fire sale began, taking back Beverley in a deal that sent Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson to Utah. All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, plus role players Royce O'Neal, Bojan Bogdanovic and Patrick Beverley (a throw-in from the Gobert deal who never actually played a game in Utah), all found new homes through Ainge's dealmaking this offseason. If the team were to win its play-in tournament games and enter the NBA's actual playoffs, it would forfeit a lottery slot entirely.

Westbrook is averaging 10.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists on 28.9 percent shooting through three games.

Johnson references the Lakers' 1984 Finals loss to the Celtics and his drive to improve in the summer before their redemptive 1985 Finals victory; he was 25 years old then and just entering his prime. "Quit trying to fight the media, quit trying to fight the fans and just say, 'you know what, I didn't play well, but I'm gonna play better.' And go out there on the court and perform. And then come back and hopefully play better the next time. That's how you stop all the things that's going on, but you can't try to do it by trying to combat them and trying to be mad at the fans or the media. And then you gotta play hard." Last season and the beginning of this one have made it clear Westbrook can no longer do that, especially on this team. If I don't play well, say I don't play well. [Los Angeles Lakers](https://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/LAL/los-angeles-lakers/) legend and Basketball Hall of Famer Magic Johnson has called on [Russell Westbrook](/nba/players/1622555/russell-westbrook/) to "take accountability" for his poor play to start the season. I didn't mind them taking shots at me in '84 because I didn't play well." Westbrook, who strangely tried to explain away his decision by saying he was going for a two-for-one, finished with 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting, six rebounds and six assists in the game. His poor play, combined with the Lakers' winless start and constant trade rumors, has turned the first week of the season into a circus that shows no signs of quieting down. I didn't play well, I was the reason the Lakers lost that series and I had to say to myself, 'I gotta get better.' So what did I do?

Future first ballot Hall of Fame power forward/center Pau Gasol played a huge role as the second-best player for your Los Angeles Lakers' three straight NBA ...

Gasol and Bryant proved to be the Lakers' most crucial figures in that contest. In that stretch, Gasol was named to three of his six All-Star teams and three of his four All-NBA teams. In that window, L.A.

The Utah Jazz have been without a doubt one of, if not the biggest surprise package early in the NBA season. Now at 3-0, the Jazz are now just one out of ...

"Somebody cautioned me before the season: If this [Utah Jazz] team gets off to a good start, don't be surprised if they hang on to some of these veterans for awhile. If this team gets off to a good start, don’t be surprised if they hang on to some of these veterans for awhile,” Shelburne said. Now at 3-0, the Jazz are now just one out of four teams in the entire league that have yet to taste defeat this year.