WestbrookTop75

The Lakers were 25-27 last season in games Russ played and 18-12 without him.

BUT the SOS (strength of schedule) was at .566 in games Russ played, and only .381 in the games he wasn't with the Lakers.

It's not at all unreasonable to speculate that the Lakers might have had the same 2nd half turnaround with Russ and AD against a very easy schedule.

Reaves, Hachimura, Schroder and AD were the biggest assets in the 2nd half with D-Lo missing significant time to injuries, Vando being a great defender but a nightmare offensively, and Malik Beasley being atrocious.

The Lakers would have likely still won enough games to qualify for the play in and either gotten the 7th or 8th seed.

The Big change is THIS........

The Lakers were 2-0 last season against Denver when Russ played them and he AVERAGED a Triple double in those wins....one of them came in a game without AD for the entire 2nd half (his december injury)

The Lakers OWNED Denver when Russ was with them and Russ was a legit terror for the Nuggets.

then I wondered what about Russ on the Clippers did he still own Denver??

In fact the Clippers with Russ lost to Denver in Overtime but only after Russ scored 12 pts in the 4th quarter to tie the game and send it to OT.

TLDR; Russell Westbrook completely owned the 2023 Denver Nuggets and if the Lakers kept him and squeezed into the playoffs (as 7th or even 8th seed) they likely upset Denver and the champsionship outcome is completely different. The Lakers might have thrown away #18 last year when the got rid of Russ. The SOS was the biggest impact on the different results in the 2nd half. In fact Russ was 3-0 last season WITHOUT Bron + AD.....and he was 9-5 when all 3 played......the problem was always the lack of health from AD and Bron.....who knew it was never even remotely Russ fault; in fact losing him may have cost them the title smh

WestGOAT was in his bag tonight dropping a Crispy 24 points on 9-21 shooting and 3-6 from downtown including a clutch 3 to tie the game at 85 after the Lakers had taken their first lead of the game

Russ had 4 steals tonight and played with the energy and unbridaled enthusiasm of a freight train as he recklessly went after the Lakers the man was unstoppable

Did he make mistakes? Yes

Did he make turnovers? Yes

Does he have some negative aspects? Yes

BUT is the overall package a Winner and Valuable? HELL YES

Russell Westbrook has transformed the culture of the Clippers from a lacksadaisical team of misfits into a well oiled machine that plays with fervor and strength at all times

Did the Clippers just fight until the last SECOND of an OT game on the 2nd night of a back to back??

Did Kawhi and PG13 play inspired basketball and never give up??

That's the RUSS Effect that's what he does to a basketball team he has leadership by example and it rubs off on the others.....Heat Culture looks pretty nonexistent in Miami right now I think it got transferred over to BEASTBROOK cause that man is on another level right now

HARDEN + BEASTBROOK + THE CLAW + PG13 = FOUR HORSEMEN

ALL FROM SoCAL and Ready to take the NBA by Storm....GET THE HECK OUTTA THE WAY THESE BOYS ARE COMING STARTING MONDAY NIGHT AND THEY ARENT GONNA QUIT TILL THAT TITLE IS BACK IN LOS ANGELES !!!!!!!!!!

MSG...NYC....GET READY FOR THE GOAT SUPERTEAM on 11/6 DEBUT....FEAST YOUR EYES ON THE 4 HORSEMEN

He looks like a G League Player right now

PB was very good for a rookie last year I think the first guy since LeBron to average 20/7/4 stat line as a rookie

But he has fallen off badly this season and his shot looks completely broken.

Its not just the broken shot though its the attitude.....his hustle is gone, his motivation is lacking, it seems like every other Magic player is trying 100x as hard to pick up the slack for this guy

Banchero is in a sophomore Slump as bad as we've ever seen in the NBA

Was last season a fluke?? Is BANCHERO the next BEN Simmons??

Was Austin Reaves great 2nd half run and playoff run in 2023 just Linsanity 2.0??

This is an undrafted guy from Arkansas who never showcased this type of NBA level talent at any collegiate or professional level before he took off last season.

The Vibes are EERILY Similar to Jeremy Lin when he had a bizarre breakout in the NBA from the PG position and seemed to have an all star skill level from outta nowhere.

We saw Lin fall hard back to earth in the following seasons where he became a Mid player who didn't make that much impact.

Is this Austin Reaves?? His talent ceiling seems to be like a 14 ppg mediocre starter level player with some solid handles and a relatively pure shot.....but there's nothing very special about him athletically to make anyone say "Wow yeah the whole league overlooked this dude"

It's the same story as Lin he was a flash of all star brilliance who faded back to his right level of solid NBA player until injuries permanently crushed him into a bench rider.

Reaves seems to be on a similar path he isnt really that great he just had a flash of brilliance playing off LeBron and AD and now the clock has struck midnight for Cinderella

Lets say Harden gets traded to the Chicago Bulls and he unexpectedly reverts to his 2018 Harden form from outta nowhere and leads Derozan, Big Vuc, Patty W, and a resurgent Andre Drummond to the NBA title defeating the Knicks, Bucks, Celtics and Suns along the way to the first bulls title in 26 years

Would James Harden (after winning MVP and FMVP) become a Chicago level on par with Michael Jordan??

I know 6 rings to 1 isn't even close but the WAY this would happen to take Chicago from the doldrums of the basement and carry them into the light and bring back championship greatness to a franchise in peril....I mean this would be beyond Cinderella

I think some people would argue THIS would be the strangest happening in NBA history if this story played out to culmination with James Harden becoming a true Dirk Nowitzki babyface turn.

A former MVP everyone thought was past his prime and then he leads the Bulls to the title and slays all the supersteams in his path much to the chagrin and astonishment of the NBA world

Clippers get: Tobias Harris, James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, 3 First Round Picks Unprotected, 3 Pick swaps, Four 2nd round picks

76ers get: Kawhi Leonard and PG13

The Sixers finally give Embiid his costars to pursue the title with a Superteam to truly Rival the Bucks, Celtics, Suns and Nuggets

The Clippers get a full on rebuild but keep 2 big name stars Westbrook and Harden who yes are past their primes but can still be ticket draws

It's a full scale rebuild but the Clippers would stay competitive right now and have a great future to build up. Kawhi and PG13 are both rentals so i think getting a legit talent like Maxey and a bunch of picks back is solid especially since that Philly core is Very old and they will likely be in the lottery by the time those picks are ready to get made

For Philly a lot to give up for 2 rentals but doesnt Morey like making Bold moves to win the title??

Lakers trade Anthony Davis for CP3 and Draymond Green??

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The Lakers keep a DPOY level player swapping out AD for Draymond....who is also BFF with LeBeon those 2 are thick as thieves.

Then the Lakers also land a top playmaker a REAL Point Guard in CP3.

Lakers NEW Starting Lineup

CP3, Reaves, LeBron, Draymond, Wood

Bench

D-Lo (6man), Vincent, Vando, Hachimura, Jax Hayes

The team as you can see is now much deeper with 2 HOF talents with deep playoff experience.

Do not forget you can add pieces from the Chicago Bulls who are likely to falter this season and blow up the core.....D-Lo, Hachimura and 2 draft picks for Derozan and Drummond makes sense

FINAL LAKERS TEAM

CP3, Reaves, DeRozan, LeBron, Draymond (STARTERS)

Vincent, Reddish, Vando, Wood, Drummond (BENCH)

You wanna talk DEPTH???? Holy shit

And for the Warriors you try to win with Steph, AD, Klay and Wiggins and make a real run at the title as well. AD only shows up 50 percent but thats okay cause Steph is STILL that guy he can still score 30+ every night unlike LeBron so they work better as a pairing

Ayton is one of the worst players I've ever seen and the Bosnian Beast was spectacular last night.

Ayton legitimately has zero post move.

I think Ayton might be the worst #1 pick of all time considering how deep that draft was. Forget about Luka they could have even taken Trae, Triple J or even Collin Sexton is the much better rotation player with at least SOME value

I think Ayton is a backup big on the same level of Thomas Bryant. If you gave Thomas Bryant the same opportunities he'd have the same stats as Ayton. And Bryant is a Vet Min backup.

MIKE "LAKERS DADDY" MALONE

he really seems to be an outstanding coach his rotations and timeouts are always on point.

Sure he has the 2 time MVP Joker and All Star Caliber Murray but Malone has to start getting a lot more credit the same way Pop was given his flowers for the spurs dynasty.

We are a long way from there but it definitely seems like Denver has a Spurs like trio with Joker, Jamal and Malone the way San Antonio had Duncan, Ginobili and Pop.

also

how did you feel about the WHOSE YOUR DADDY chants from the fans?? It seemed to be in great fun and most people say they got a kick out of it.

Should the "Whose Your Daddy" nickname for Mike Malone stick??

aka Mike "Lakers Daddy" Malone

Both teams have pretty similar title odds according to Vegas with all the Harden trade stuff going on. And ironically these are the 2 teams linked for the Harden trade.

But lets assume Harden gets traded somewhere else for swaps and 2nd rounders.

Which team the Clippers with Kawhi/PG13/RUSS or the 76ers with Embiid/Maxer/Tobias

if they both make the finals who would be the bigger stunner....

the West is a lot more stacked but the East is more top heavy so for these 2 teams to make the finals they will need to be upsetting the favorites