The Lakers were in need of a big change over the off-season.
It was expected that would involve bringing in some shooting to space the floor for LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Instead, as The Ringer’s Rob Mahoney put it, the Lakers decided to “solve their biggest problem with an even bigger problem”.
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Westbrook joins James and Davis in a blockbuster NBA trade deal with the Wizards, which sends Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to Washington.
With James entering his 19th season and running out of time, L.A. is desperate to seize its opportunity and the Westbrook trade is supposed to launch them into championship contention.
In reality though, the Lakers were always going to be title fancies…
