After last season’s disappointment, the Los Angeles Lakers tried out a different plan as they traded away some of their younger stars and brought in a lot of experience. Their biggest offseason acquisition was bringing in Russell Westbrook from Washington Wizards. The idea of the Lakers front office is to pair Westbrook with their super duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis already in place.
They do have a support staff filled with players like Malik Monk, Trevor Ariza, Carmelo Anthony and others. But overall Westbrook is a very dominant personality and the Lakers will hope that he comes good for them this season and help them win the NBA Championship which they failed to defend last season.
The Lakers are considered as one of the favourites on paper to lift the NBA title. But with so many veterans in the team, it will be a tough job for chief coach Frank Vogel to bring everyone together and play as a unit.
With Westbrook’s arrival, the dynamic of the whole team has changed. Carmelo Anthony who has joined the Lakers from the Portland Trail Blazers knows a lot about Westbrook during their time at the Oklahoma City Thunder. Melo revealed how he saw Brody play as an anchor for the OKC Thunder as the team revolved around him. But the situation at Lakers is completely different as he already has so many star players on the roster.
Melo opened up on how the Lakers management has managed to bring everyone together and it has been a good going for them in the preseason. So he feels that Westbrook’s role will change drastically from being the main man for the Thunder or even for the Wizards, he will have to play like a star among many stars at the Lakers.
The 10-time NBA All-star elaborated – “It’s different. In OKC it was his (Westbrook) show and he was the anchor of that. I think we did a great job of putting this (Lakers) group together so that everybody can be there on their own anchor and within what we’re trying to accomplish…So, Russ have to be who Russ is. Him coming here, him coming home and that’s always a different feeling.”
It is an emotional moment for Westbrook as he is returning home and he desperately wants to make it work with the Lakers and help them win the NBA title this season. While Vogel will look to hand him the freedom that is needed, some of his roles will change at Lakers for the upcoming season.
