Lakers Rumors: Russell Westbrook Less Likely to Be Traded amid Play as 6th Man

The Los Angeles Lakers are very pleased with Russell's play.

Reports continue to emerge that the team won't trade the $47 million man in order to build a better roster around the likes of James and Davis.

Sam Amick of The Athletic wrote on Thursday that a source with knowledge of the Lakers' plans said that it was "increasingly unlikely that he will be traded before the league's February 9 deadline."

The man has moved to the bench. He averaged 15 points and eight assists per game in 14 November games while shooting 41.9 percent from the field and 35.3% from three.

In seven December games, that production has dipped a bit, but it's still an improvement over last year.

The Lakers have responded to their poor start to the season by winning nine of their last fifteen games. They will probably spend a lot of the season trying to dig themselves out of a hole they created, but the angst over the fit of the team seems to have waned.

Despite the fact that his ball-handling style of play and poor perimeter shooting doesn't mesh well with James, trading him would still be the most logical way to build a better and more well-rounded roster.

The Lakers need more shooting and better defense, and that's not going to be provided by Westbrook.

The Athletic's Jovan Buha reported earlier in the month that the Lakers have seen a potential trade in which they would give up draft compensation as part of the deal. The second would be to swap picks for role players who can upgrade the rotation.

There would be some combination of the approaches.

The team's dream scenario is a star player on a struggling team getting traded. That hasn't happened yet. The Lakers are content with letting things play out with Westbrook in the sixth man role