Russell Westbrook Says He Wants to Return to Lakers but 'Nothing Is Promised'

The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Phoenix Suns 121-110 on Tuesday night, which eliminated them from playoff contention.

According to Dave McMenamin, the Lakers player was asked if he wanted to continue playing for the team next season.

That is the plan. Nothing is promised. We want to be able to see what that looks like over the course of the season. We are not sure if that is guaranteed. I hope we have a chance to do something.

The Lakers struggled due to Anthony Davis and LeBron James missing time because of injuries, but they were still criticized for their play.

The Wizards traded Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Lakers in exchange for Russell Westbrook.

The hope within the Lakers organization was that the Big Three would be formed with the help of Russell.

He has averaged 18 points, 7.4 rebound, 7.1 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.0 three-pointer per game, and he deserves credit for playing in 78 of the Lakers games.

He turned the ball over 3.8 times per game and shot just 29.8% from beyond the 3-point line in his lowest scoring output since the 2009-10 season.

If they had the choice, the Lakers would most likely move on from him.

Since he wouldn't make that much on the free-agent market, it's next to impossible for him to decline the $47 million player option for next season.

The Lakers will likely have to try to find a trade partner, but that could prove difficult and they may have to take on some bad contracts.

The team could bounce back if the Lakers have no choice but to ride with Westbrook.

Keeping Davis and James healthy will be the key to success.

It is true that the Lakers were only 11-10 when Davis, James and Westbrook all played, but that is a small sample size, and even so, it would have been enough to get L.A. into the play-in tournament.

He is a nine-time All-Star, two-time scoring champion, one-time NBA Most Valuable Player, and likely future Hall of Famer, but he is a different player now.

He has shown this season that he can't be counted on as a go-to guy on a winning team anymore, but there is still hope that he can be a solid supporting-cast member if the Lakers can somehow keep Davis and James on the court.