When the Los Angeles Lakers traded Russell Westbrook along with little-used players Juan Toscano-Anderson and Damian Jones for D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt in a three-team deal announced on Thursday, many Lakers fans rejoiced.
But they didn’t rejoice because their team was getting a very good ball-handling guard (Russell), a proven 3-point shooter (Beasley) or a super-energetic, defensive-minded big man (Vanderbilt).
No, fans were happy to be rid of Westbrook.
He isn’t quite as bad a player as some Lakers partisans have claimed over the past year or so. But he is a flawed player who simply couldn’t fit n a squad built around the talents of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
According to multiple reports, people within the organization were also glad to be done with the former league MVP.
Westbrook isn’t the ogre some have made him out to be. He deserves credit for accepting a bench role this season, which was something many doubted he would go along with.
But lately, there was tension growing between him and his teammates and coaching staff, and it reached the point where they concluded he simply had to go.