With the Los Angeles Lakers off to a winless start to the season, head coach Darvin Ham is changing things up to get a spark. The biggest change involves star guard Russell Westbrook.
On Friday, ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Lakers are planning to bring Westbrook off the bench for tonight’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Per the report, the team wants him to be the primary playmaker for the second team unit.
It’s a pretty noteworthy change for Westbrook, who has started every game he’s been healthy enough to play since his rookie season nearly 15 years ago. Ironically, the last time he came off the bench in a regular season game was against the Timberwolves on November 28, 2008.
Fans aren’t convinced that this move will do much of anything though. Some think that Westbrook is too washed to make an impact while others believe he’s being scapegoated for the team’s 0-4 start:
But something had to be done amid the Lakers’ 0-4 start. Nobody seems to want to give good value for Russell Westbrook in a trade while moving LeBron James or Anthony Davis is a non-starter.
We’ll see how this new strategy works when the Lakers take on the Timberwolves tonight.
The game will be played at 8 p.m. ET and will air on BSN and SPEC.