Lakers Superstar Drops Final Decision on Future With Franchise

The Los Angeles Lakers were advised to trade at least one superstar this offseason, but the future seems to be really clear now.

LA showed interest in getting Kyrie Irving. However, the Brooklyn Nets veteran decided to opt into his deal with the franchise. Irving will play with the Nets next season and he will definitely enter free agency in the same year as LeBron James. Irving and LeBron would have been really good together, but they won’t team up in the near future.

So, Irving is out of the equation. In other words, Rob Pelinka will have to come up with another solution. Russell Westbrook? The All-Star is coming off of a bad season and the Lakers had to make a decision. Well, Russ made a decision, too.

Lakers superstar won’t leave the team in the future

Adrian Wojnarowski from ESPN reported that Russ will exercise his option for the upcoming season. He won’t leave the Lakers, leaving Pelinka with a few simple scenarios.

The Lakers had a chance to trade Westbrook at the deadline. NBA teams wanted Russ and a first-round pick. This scenario didn’t fit Pelinka’s plans. He can’t afford losing a first-rounder. LeBron and Anthony Davis will have to retire/leave the team at some point. Pelinka needs his first-rounders to build a strong roster in the future.

Keeping Westbrook on the roster is not such a bad thing. He is a talented player. The Lakers have a new head coach, too. Their candidates had to provide a solution to Westbrook’s problem. Darvin Ham likes Westbrook and the veteran was one of the few players who attended his introductory press conference.

Wojnarowski reported that the Lakers still hope to get a good performance from Westbrook. His second year with the team may be better than expected. Let’s see what happens in the next couple of months.

“The Lakers are counting on Westbrook to have a comeback season under new coach Darvin Ham, whom Westbrook has told ESPN that he’s been enthusiastic about getting to know in recent weeks,” Wojnarowski wrote.