Why LeBron James, Russell Westbrook Will Succeed Next Season amid Lakers Rumors

A 33-49 record wasn't the desired record when the Los Angeles Lakers centered their roster around the trio of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook last offseason. They had championship aspirations, then missed the playoffs during the 2021-22 season.

It's sparked an offseason filled with rumors and trade buzz. Is Westbrook done in Los Angeles after one season? Will the Lakers trade for Kyrie Irving to replace him? Could they go with a lineup that features neither Westbrook nor Irving?

Nobody knows what Los Angeles is going to do, especially with more than two months to go before the 2022-23 season. There's plenty of time for the Lakers to continue to make moves, especially considering they haven't made any major ones thus far.

In the meantime, Los Angeles' players appear to be focused on what they can control: internal improvement. And that includes the core of James, Davis and Westbrook, who appear to be feeling the same way about being focused on moving on from a disappointing season.

According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, James, Davis and Westbrook "huddled up on a phone conversation" during the opening weekend of the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas with "each expressing their commitment to one another and vowing to make it work."

That includes Westbrook, who came to Los Angeles from the Washington Wizards in a four-team trade last August and is preparing for his second season with the Lakers. At least for now.

"While the uncertainty of Westbrook’s future with the Lakers remains, the conversation was organized to make sure all three were on the same page as long as they’re joined together in their pursuit of a championship, sources said," Haynes wrote. "Westbrook has never requested a trade from the Lakers, sources said."

If this trio didn't work last season, why would it work this time? Well, there are reasons to believe that James, Davis and Westbrook could still combine to lead Los Angeles to success, even if the 2021-22 campaign was mostly a failure.

For one, the Lakers dealt with plenty of injuries last season, which greatly decreased the amount of time their three stars were on the court together. Westbrook played 78 games, but James (56) and Davis (40) got hurt and struggled to get back to full strength.

It can take some time for a new lineup to jell, and this one just didn't get enough opportunities to do that. If everybody can stay healthy during the upcoming season, things might click a lot better.

The Lakers also need to surround their superstar trio with the right types of players, specifically strong shooters. Westbrook and James are going to score a lot and can both handle the ball, but they shot 29.8 percent and 35.9 percent from three-point range, respectively, last season.

Los Angeles needs to have a wing player or two who can shoot from long range at a high rate, even if they're coming off the bench and not in the starting lineup. That's an area the Lakers could still greatly improve before the end of the offseason.

Even if Los Angeles doesn't make huge overarching changes to its roster from last season, it should be encouraging to fans that it seems James, Davis and Westbrook are on the same wavelength. That could set them up for better results moving forward, as team chemistry is an important aspect of successful NBA teams.

So if the Lakers keep the core together and give this trio another opportunity, it could yield positive results. Because each of these three stars is still playing at a high level and can keep learning how to play well as a collective unit.