On Thursday, the Los Angeles Lakers traded Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrelll, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and two future second-round picks to the Washington Wizards in exchange for star point guard Russell Westbrook. Many people already see the Lakers as a legit contender for the upcoming season and adding Westbrook will only increase that expectation. In my opinion, the Lakers are going to struggle with Westbrook in their lineup. Why? There are many reasons that I think the Lakers are going to lose many games next season even with the big 3 of Westbrook, James, and Davis.

Westbrook is the most ball dominant player in the NBA. He’s just as ball dominant as Lebron, KD, and even Giannis. I would argue that he’s even more ball dominant than all of the players I just listed. Westbrook tried to win a Championship in Houston with James Harden and it was an unsuccessful attempt to say the least. Westbrook is one of the weird players in the NBA. He’s a great talent, but he’s a great talent when he’s the GUY on his team. For some reason he can’t seem to click with other ball dominant players in the league, and I think this is the problem the Lakers are going to run into. How are AD and Lebron also gonna get theirs? Who’s going to shoot the 3? I’ll tell you who ain’t shooting the 3…Westbrook who shot 30% from the 3 point line last season. Lebron will be the best 3 point shooter in the lineup and he shot 36% from deep in the 2021 season. AD shot a underwhelming 26% from 3. The 3 ball has proved to be some important as the game of basketball has shifted into a 3 point contest. The league average for 3s attempted in a game is 34.6 which is higher than it has ever been. For the 9th season in a row, the league record for 3-pointers made has been broken. The bottom line is that I truly believe the Lakers will struggle with the addition of Westbrook. It may look nice and shiny from the outside, but time will tell whether or not he’s a fit with LA.