5 things the Lakers can actually do to improve this year’s team

2. Lakers need to bench or banish Russell Westbrook

Anyone paying the slightest bit of attention to the Lakers this season can clearly see that Westbrook is an intensely negative player. Rehashing how he and Los Angeles got into this predicament has been covered extensively by writers all over the internet.

The only thing that really matters now is how the Lakers can move forward with Westbrook and his outlandish salary. He almost certainly possesses the most toxic contract in the league. That makes trading him an extremely difficult, but not impossible proposition for GM Rob Pelinka and his front office.

The first thing the Lakers need to do is get Westbrook off the floor. He’s killing the team when he plays and that isn’t going to improve. Continuing to trot him out there night after night will only decrease his trade value and lower the team’s on-floor performance.

That’s why sending Westbrook to the bench or back to his home would both be beneficial moves by the Lakers. Addition by subtraction doesn’t happen all that often in the modern NBA but here’s one place it would undoubtedly occur. Replacing Westbrook’s minutes with any other player on the roster would give Los Angeles a meaningful boost.