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Tracy McGrady Thinks Russell Westbrook Needs To Come Off The Bench Next Season: “Only Way To Work”

The Los Angeles Lakers were a massive disappointment in the recent NBA season, missing the NBA playoffs with a record of 33 wins and 49 losses. While the Lakers showed a ton of problems, many fans and basketball pundits believe that Russell Westbrook was the main reason the team underachieved.

One can count on Westbrook to fill up the stat-sheet as he averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game on 44.4% shooting from the field for the Lakers in the regular season. But there’s one big mess that the stats cannot show, and it is Westbrook’s fit with the team.

It’s no secret that Westbrook needs the ball in his hands to be effective, but he can’t do that as much while playing alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who also need the ball to operate. The fact that Westbrook is a poor shooter doesn’t help the team as well.

Former NBA All-Star Tracy McGrady now weighed in on Westbrook’s situation and came up with a not-so-obvious solution to fix the Lakers. Appearing on No Chill with Gilbert Arenas, McGrady suggested that Westbrook should come off the bench.

“I don’t like that group, I don’t like Russ, Bron, and AD, I don’t like that trio. I love Russ as a player, but I don’t like him with those two… Russ, to me, is not a guy that you just put in the corner. He can’t play off the ball, Russ needs the ball.” 

“Russ has gotta come off the bench. That’s the only way to work.”