If I was T Mann, I would demand a buyout. Same with Bones and EG. Because all 3 of these guys, who bring much value to this team are all going to lose minutes to a washed up guy who can’t shoot and defend.

Westbrook??

Oh dear…

First, Russ is not Wall or Rondo. Those 2 were not NBA quality players when the Clips picked them up. Russ is. I think Russ deserves a lot of credit for helping to drag the Lakers out of a 2-10 hole to within range of the play in. He played a lot of good basketball and his + Lebron’s constant rim pressure for 48 combined minutes was very tough to stop.

Second, Russ does two things to help the starting unit: rim pressure and rebounds. An ideal Russ stat line, for me, is 3/7 shooting, 6/6 FTs, 8 Rebs, 6 assists, 3 TOs in 20 mins of play. I hate the energy of the starting unit. T-Mann has to carry it until Morris/PG/Kawhi figure out it’s time to play.

Third, we have to look at this as trading Reggie for Russ. Hyland is now going to be moved to the deep bench, effectively, with probably no more than 8-10 mins of time. I don’t think that’s a great trade for the Clippers, but if Russ brings the rim pressure and rebounding and minimizes the shooting, it can work.

The biggest challenge to Russ is what happens to Morris, Eric Gordon and Terance Mann. Imho, Morris has to sit. EG and T-Mann have to play. If we have a starting lineup of Mann, PG, Kawhi, Zu, EG/Batum on unit 1 with Russ, Powell, Plumlee, EG/Morris, Batum it can work. Bones can sub in for a 5-10 min stretch. That second unit can be straight fire with Russ having shooters like EG/Powell and a big like Plumlee to play around.

Honestly, this pickup can have an A+ result if Morris ends up on the edge of the deep bench, or it can be a disaster if Terance Mann and Eric Gordon end up playing less while Morris gets his 20-25 mins/game.

It’s really not about Russ at the end of the day. I watched a lot of Laker games this season and know what he can give us. It’s about our coach, Ty Lue. He actually has to demonstrate that Chuck Daly sense for assessing the match ups and talent level. No one managed a deep roster better than Chuck Daly did with the Bad Boy Pistons. That’s who he’s going to have to be to deliver a championship.

No dev for bones, no Gordon (who’s so much better than Westbrook at this stage) less Mann. It’s just an idiotic move to appease PG who frankly is approaching Russ level washed himself.