There are many factors that led to the Los Angeles Lakers missing the postseason in 2021-22, although the two people receiving most of the blame are Frank Vogel and Russell Westbrook.

Vogel led the Lakers to a championship less than two years ago, but that wasn’t enough to save his job as the Lakers fired him at the conclusion of this disastrous season.

Westbrook was brought in last offseason in hopes of being the third star alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Not only did he fail to fit in with the other two stars, but he also failed to elevate his play while James and/or Davis were out with injury in order to keep the team afloat.

As a result, Westbrook’s days with the Lakers may also be numbered as his name has already been in a number of trade rumors.

Trading Westbrook and his expiring $47 million contract may not be that easy though, especially considering the Lakers reportedly do not want to attach future draft picks to him.

If the Lakers don’t find a deal of their liking then they may be inclined to just keep Westbrook at least until the trading deadline. It appears that is a serious possibility as according to Sam Amick of The Athletic, Vogel is again receiving blame for Westbrook’s poor season with hopes that a new coach can help him turn it around:

I’m starting to wonder if the Lakers might not trade Russell Westbrook this summer after all. And no, not just because Oram made a compelling argument on Monday as to why they should think twice about it.

When the decision was made to fire Vogel, sources say his handling of Westbrook and the inability to find a way to make him a more productive part of the program were among the factors that played a big part. There was a strong sense that it was on Vogel to make the Westbrook experiment work, and the fact that it didn’t led to questions about whether Westbrook had been put in a position to succeed. That sure smells like the hope of a Russ revival to me.