Lakers News: Russell Westbrook On If He Would Like To Play In L.A.
Lakers News: Russell Westbrook On If He Would Like To Play In L.a.

Growing up in the Los Angeles area, Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder went to UCLA and was a Lakers fan. With Kobe Bryant playing in his 20th and final season, there have been reports of Westbrook becoming the next face of the franchise.

While all the attention is on Kevin Durant this off-season, Westbrook becomes an unrestricted free agent following the 2016-17 NBA season. Although there are a lot of games to be played, Westbrook has not been able to escape questions regarding his free agency.

With Westbrook set to make his fifth All-Star appearance in Toronto on Sunday, he was asked about the possibility of playing for the Lakers according to Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman:

Although the media is trying to get a quote out of him regarding the Lakers, Westbrook is only focused on helping the Thunder return to the NBA Finals in the extremely competitive Western Conference. Despite the knee injuries in recent years, Westbrook remains one of the best players in the league.

For the Lakers, they have been tied to Durant and Westbrook as they will have a projected $65 million in cap space to pursue free agents this off-season. However, the development of D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle and Jordan Clarkson will be crucial if the Lakers want to speed up their rebuilding process.

With 27 games remaining in the season, Russell is expected to return to the starting lineup at some point according to head coach Byron Scott. As Bryant is set to retire, it will be interesting if the Lakers finally shift their focus to player development in the second half of the season.

You May Also Like

Lakers News & Rumors Recap: Lakers Out of the Summer League Finals

Nick Young has spent the last few weeks at the Drew League…

Lakers News: Kyle Kuzma Details How Much Training Is Needed Before Resuming 2019-20 NBA Season

With the NBA currently still waiting to see whether or not it can resume the 2019-20 season, players have been doing their…

Lakers News: Nick Young Suffers Knee Injury; Out For Rest Of Game

[new_royalslider id=”137″] The Los Angeles Lakers had eight available players heading into…

Lakers Official Press Release Concerning Hiring of Mike D’Antoni

Only a few hours after the Los Angeles Lakers came out on…