In a recent episode of ESPN’s Brian Windhorst’s Cleveland Cavaliers podcast “Hey Windy!”, which airs on ESPN Cleveland, Windhorst breathed new life into the Kevin-Love-and-Russell-Westbrook-are-going-to-team-up-in-Los-Angeles rumor where he said the following:
“Love enjoys Westbrook. they have a relationship. there’s a conspiracy theory that exists out there that Kevin Love will go to the Lakers this summer, or next summer, and then Westbrook will join him when he’s a free agent, and they will reunite in LA, like they played for UCLA. The guy, the star player he has the best relationship in the league with is Westbrook.”
It’s entirely plausible that Love and Westbrook find themselves on the same team at one point in their career, but with the current path both stars are currently on it’s hard to see that happening while the former UCLA duo are in their respective primes.
DALLAS, TX – MARCH 16: Russell Westbrook #0 of the Oklahoma City Thunder at American Airlines Center on March 16, 2015 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
These kinds of rumors, along with the Rajon Rondo rumors, also mask the fact that the Lakers have clinched back-to-back 50-plus losses for the first time in franchise history; they hadn’t lost 50-plus games since the 1974-75 season, prior to the 2013-14 Lakers team.
Things are really bad in Los Angeles; Kobe Bryant is perhaps one season away from walking off into the sunset; their 2014 lottery pick missed all of this season; ESPN ranked their head coach 29th in the NBA, while also ranking their front office 28th in the Association; they lost Dwight Howard and have struck out in free agency since.
Did I mention the Lakers are going to lose 50-plus games again?
Like the New York Knicks, there is no quick fix in sight for the Lakers. The Lakers need a lot of help in the front office department, the coaching department and the roster-construction department.
Why does all of this matter? Well, Love and Westbrook currently find themselves in, for the most part, solid, stable situations. In Love’s case, he may not being used properly in Cleveland, but it *is* Year 1 of the new “Big 3”, and Love has a really good shot at winning a ring in the next couple of years playing alongside the best basketball player on the planet in LeBron James and one of the best scorers on the planet in Kyrie Irving. That’s going to be really hard to walk away from, no matter how Love struggles to “fit-in”. In Westbrook’s case, he can’t even become a free agent until 2017 and one would think it would take Kevin Durant bolting in the summer of 2016 for Westbrook to seriously consider leaving Oklahoma City; even if Love signed on the previous summer.
Does it really matter that Love is “closest” with Westbrook among NBA stars? Possibly. But that’s probably been the case since he’s been in the League and will probably be the case until he’s out of the League. What does matter is how difficult it will be for both of these stars to leave their current team, while also taking a major risk in joining an organization that has been littered with dysfunction for multiple seasons now.
Don’t expect these rumors to die down anytime soon.
