Editor’s note: This is the Wednesday June 8 edition of the Purple & Bold Lakers newsletter from reporter Kyle Goon. To receive the newsletter in your inbox, sign up here.

Two months ago, the Lakers had an informal strategy for talking about Russell Westbrook’s future with the franchise: kicking the can down the road.

It was telling when general manager Rob Pelinka, asked about Westbrook’s future with the franchise, said he would talk to the 33-year-old about “what’s best for his future” before adding: “Rest assured, we’re gonna lookunder every stone for ways to be better.”

LeBron James was similarly noncommittal. While offering, “I love being a teammate of Russ,” he also said little about what a full offseason and another year of the Lakers’ experiment would accomplish: “I don’t put any expectations on anything.”

Granted, this was back in April, one day after a miserable 33-49 season had ended. But very few key stakeholders seemed fully bought in on the idea that Westbrook – not the root of all of the Lakers’ problems, but a very public face of them – should get a second go. Perhaps least convinced was Westbrook himself, airing a laundry list of grievances against his coaches, Lakers fans and even what seemed like a shot at James and Davis.

“I would probably say the only thing that was a problem or issue was with just the reception I got from people here,” Westbrook said at the time. “For any reason, whatever that may be.”

Season 2 of the Westbrook era seemed destined to be canceled.

But Monday’s introduction of new coach Darvin Ham sounded very much like a pivot. Is Westbrook a key part of the franchise’s future? “Absolutely,” said Ham. “Don’t get it messed up. Russell is one of the bestplayers our league has ever seen.”

With a nodding Pelinka at his side, Ham vigorously defended the idea that Westbrook could come back, describing the James-Davis-Westbrook alignment as his “Big Three” (despite last year’s on-court performance withering that term). Westbrook stood to the side of the press conference, but his shadow loomed as Ham spoke about his optimism that he could turn around the underperforming trio.

“Russ and I had some really, really great one-on-one convos, man, and the biggest word I think came out of those discussions was ‘sacrifice,’ Ham said. “We’re going to sacrifice whatever we got to do. And it’s not just Russ. It’s going to be sacrifices that LeBron has to make, that AD has to make, on down the line to the rest of our roster.”

It’s an interesting word to linger on. “Sacrifice” was a word that Westbrook himself said many times in his exit interview – seemingly referencing the impact it had on his stats last season: “I’ll be in different positions on the floor and that’s a part of just sacrifice, so that will obviously accumulate to numbers being a little bit differently and not averaging as many points or not averaging as many assists.”

The most bitter part for Westbrook, in his assessment, was that he “sacrificed” and yet the Lakers didn’t win. He seemed particularly bitter that it hurt his bottom line a year after averaging a triple-double: “Anything less than that would not be a good season for me in my eyes, you know what I’m saying?”

Ham deserves the benefit of the doubt: He didn’t become a championship-winning player and coach without understanding how the key players on his team were wired. In Milwaukee, he was in charge of scouting the Lakers – a team the Bucks beat soundly twice this year (so badly in February that James admitted the Lakers couldn’t reach their level). So when he spoke so boldly about the possibilities for Westbrook’s future, one can safely assume it’s with rock-solid intent and a realistic assessment of what his stars can actually achieve.

Either Ham has confidence that he can be the coach who breaks through to Westbrook – who gets him to play energetic team defense, who engages him as an off-ball player – or he knows speaking confidently is the Lakers’ best strategy right now. Smart money is on the latter, not just for Ham but for the entire Lakers organization.

Since the exit interview disaster that saw Westbrook air his disgruntled status in the most public waypossible, the NBA rumor mill has cranked with possible trade scenarios for the 2017 MVP. But given Westbrook’s massive salary (a team would have to send nearly $38 million back in contracts), the Lakers would have to take on long-term, unsavory deals for overpaid players, ship out their few remaining draft assets or – more than likely – a bit of both.

Those aren’t particularly tasteful options, but then again there aren’t a lot of teams salivating to take on Westbrook, who has played for four teams in as many years. It might be too cynical to view his once-record-setting supermax contract that he signed in 2017 as a kind of “hot potato” that the Thunder, Rockets and Wizards have desperately passed around, the Lakers would be well within reason to look at it with that kind of dread.

At the very least, the shift in the Lakers’ posturing speaks to a kind of organizational clarity to unify their message: Privately and publicly, they’ve shown their intent to keep Westbrook on next year’s roster. Westbrook has enjoyed streaks of absolute brilliance in his career, especially as a focal point. Looking at his pure averages last season (18.5 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 7.1 apg, 44.4% shooting), isn’t there a salvageable player in there somewhere?

But the problem is that Westbrook, both by his own words and by accounts of those who peered behind the scenes at his first season, is most comfortable when he is the ball-dominant force. The book is out on him as a spotty shooter, unreliable defender and a primary ballhandler who is prone to spates of turnovers. The biggest issue is that Westbrook seems unable or even unwilling to address his shortcomings head-on. Inthe same breath that he claimed to take accountability for his subpar performances in April, Westbrook also offered that he is the only critic of his game that matters to him: “I’m the only one that can scale that because of the way I know I’m supposed to be able to perform and the things I know I’m able to do just for a team.”

Ham’s points of emphasis on defense and off-ball offense sound hauntingly familiar to points the last Lakers’ coaching staff made to Westbrook, which were adopted temporarily, but largely abandoned as he preferred his old style and habits. A former player with gravitas and the ability to form strong relationships, Ham may be the coach who can break through to Westbrook – but at this point in his career, it’s also reasonable to ask if anyone can get the notoriously bullish point guard to change his ways.

If the Lakers felt strongly that they aren’t in a position to win a championship in the coming season – not an unreasonable position given the resurgence of the Warriors, the steady competitiveness of the Suns, and the up-and-coming Mavericks and Grizzlies make for a fraught Western Conference – the straightforward answer would be to wait out Westbrook’s contract. Swallow the medicine, pay him his $47.1 million, and wait for the sun to rise with cap space in 2023-24.

But that strategy is at odds with competing while LeBron James is still in his prime. While his durability has been an undeniable issue in his Lakers tenure, playing in less than 73% of possible games, James was still one of the league’s best scorers last season and good enough to make third-team All-NBA despite playing for a squad that missed the postseason. And James’ impatience with losing is as strong a driver as any to figure out how to unload Westbrook – unless James comes into next season believing that there is something to salvage in the so-far failed arrangement.

Ham understands without superstar buy-in, he won’t succeed. In his opening presser, he talked about “maintenance” for James, decreasing his load to keep him healthy (an issue to which James is notoriously sensitive). He plans on implementing a four-out, one-in system, which implies that Davis will need to play starting center once and for all. If he’s on next year’s team, Westbrook will have to buy in, too.

“We have a saying, ‘Facts over feelings,’ and once you see the film, that’s a fact,” Ham said. “You missed your assignment, then that has to be pointed out. Because if I can’t point it out to one of our Big Three, then the last man or someone in the rotation, they’re not gonna take what we’re doing seriously.”

That’s the threat Westbrook poses to the Lakers next season: If he continues along his same path, he’ll undermine the authority of a first-time head coach who is trying to build a championship culture.

Whatever conversations Ham has had with with Westbrook might have added to the confidence that Ham possessed on his first day on the job. But however things play out – whether Westbrook is on the roster next season or not – his approach, and that of the entire organization, was undoubtedly the only way forward: a strong poker face no matter the hand they’ve got.

– Kyle Goon

Editor’s note: Thanks for reading the Purple & Bold Lakers newsletter from reporter Kyle Goon. To receive the newsletter in your inbox, sign up here.

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