Can Russell Westbrook be the Lakers’ Andrew Wiggins?

Darvin Ham is officially the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, and he spent a good chunk of his introductory press conference talking about Russell Westbrook, laying out a path to success for the team’s highest-paid player — with Westbrook standing 15 feet or so away.

On the latest episode of “I Love Basketball”, Raj Chipalu and Sabreena Merchant tried to wrap their heads around Ham’s comments regarding Westbrook, and the increasingly realistic possibility that Westbrook will be a Laker for one more season. They discussed the proposed 4-out, 1-in offense and what that means for Westbrook and AD and also whether or not Westbrook can follow through on the sacrifices Ham is proposing for him.

Raj noted that the adaptations Ham mapped out for Westbrook sound a lot like what Golden State asked of Andrew Wiggins when they brought him over from Minnesota, so Raj and Sabreena talk about the similarities and differences between those two situations. They also spent some time on Game 3 of the NBA Finals, how it’s getting so much easier to root for the Warriors given their current opponent, and how the Boston defense brings back fond memories of the 2019-20 Lakers.

The two of them conclude with the biggest L.A. basketball news of the week — the firing of Derek Fisher — and where the Sparks go from here.

You can listen to the full episode below, and to make sure you never miss a show, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

And for a short-form recap pod, check out Lakers Lowdown, in which Anthony Irwin recaps the previous day’s news and gets you ready for the day ahead in LakerLand, every weekday morning on the Silver Screen & Roll Podcast feed.