Although the theory says that the NBA transfer market does not close until February, not all teams can afford to wait that long to make certain moves. This is the case of the Lakers with Russell Westbrook, whom several voices within the franchise consider should be released before the season starts. training camp to prevent their presence from becoming destabilizing.
This is at least what Jova Buha, a journalist from The Athleticwho states that there is a feeling that the training camp it is something like a deadline to make the move, and that the time will come when Angelenos will have to decide if it pays them to maintain certain demands in the negotiations or facilitate the transfer at a low price. In the offices they fear that if the base continues in the squad in September, the press discourse will focus too much on issues such as his future, his relationship with LeBron or his role, generating an important extra-sports distraction that would not benefit to the team.
It’s obvious that moving Westbrook’s big contract in his current situation is no easy task, but these fears certainly don’t seem unfounded. The media coverage of the Lakers is incomparable to that of most franchises, and recent seasons are an example of the snowball effect that can be generated both if things start off on the right foot and, above all, if they start to go wrong. Starting the season with all the conversations revolving around this topic is far from the dream start, and in that sense it may be more profitable to sell cheap than to sell late.
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