Lakers’ Darvin Ham Drops Final Decision on Russell Westbrook Future: Report

The Los Angeles Lakers have huge plans for the upcoming season. LeBron James and his teammates are coming off of a terrible season. The front office hired Darvin Ham as the new head coach and he is expected to find a solution for the Russell Westbrook drama.

Marc Stein from Substack reported that Ham will do his best to find a good role for Westbrook. Here’s a fun fact. Will the Lakers keep Westbrook around for another season?

“Yet I am also hearing that, if no trade involving Westbrook materializes and if he is on the roster when the Lakers start practicing on Sept. 27, new Lakers coach Darvin Ham remains determined to carve out a real role for Westbrook,” Stein wrote. “Sources say that the Lakers, to date, have strongly resisted the idea of shelving Westbrook completely until they can find a trade for him like the Rockets tried last season with John Wall — even after trading for longtime Westbrook adversary Patrick Beverley. Westbrook, who turns 34 in November, appeared in 78 of the Lakers’ 82 games last season.”

Darvin Ham trusts Russell Westbrook

The new Lakers head coach has huge responsibilities. He will coach top players and Westbrook seems to be a priority for him.

“I think the style of play we’re going to have, you know, all of those guys — not only just Russ but LeBron, AD — they’re going to be able to share the load,” Ham said on The Dan Patrick Show. “One thing I mentioned to Russ is the way I’m built, the success I’ve seen — especially most recently in the last nine years and the last four years being with Coach Bud in Milwaukee, also in Atlanta, but in Milwaukee — one thing we always preached and will continue to preach to be our foundation of our teams is a defensive mindset, being able to defend at a high level.

“And I challenged him and he accepted the challenge. That’s a part of the word ‘sacrifice’ we use. And being able to move him around in different spaces on the floor as we go back on the offensive end. Sometimes he’s going to be off the ball slashing. He’s going to play in the dunker. Sometimes he’s going to be initiating things. He may post up a little bit. He may be the screener in pick-and-rolls.