The Los Angeles Lakers continue to struggle on the season as they have just three wins. While no one expected the team to contend for a championship, three wins is not where they want to be and now head coach Byron Scott is looking to shake things up within the roster. That has started with benching young talent as trades could following in the coming weeks.
Scott is shaking things up in-house before eyeing outside help to bring in for a change. With Kobe Bryant retiring at the end of the season, the Lakers are focused on the future and Julius Randle and D'Angelo Russell are expected to be a part of that which is why the two are no longer starters for the time being.
According to ESPN's Baxter Holmes, the Lakers are benching Russell and Randle for the near future while Louis Williams and Larry Nance start in their place. This experiment was first seen in the loss to the Toronto Raptors and could continue. According to Scott, both players are not developing like the team needs and he needs to adjust.
"Look, [Russell and Randle] are young. They still have a long way to go. They've got a lot of work to do," Scott said, via ESPN.com. "This change wasn't so much based on them not performing up to their capability. It's based on where we are as a team. That's why I made this adjustment tonight. We're 3-17, so obviously, it's not working. So I wanted to get some new blood in there, some fresh blood, and see how those guys play. Five to 10 games from now, there might be another change."
Both Russell and Randle are expected to be heavily involved in the post-Bryant era of the Lakers and if benching them now helps that happen, the Lakers will not hesitate with the move. Both Randle and Russell admitted they were not happy with the move as it came with no explanation. Russell has been struggling with just an average of 11 points and 4.7 rebounds on the year while Randle was leading the team with an average of 9.2 rebounds per game.
"I don't think they were happy about it," Scott said. "They didn't say anything to me, but I don't think they were happy about it. And I hope they're not. I hope when they get the chance to play, they come out with a lot more energy and a little bit more aggressiveness and just play better basketball."
There is a chance that shakeups could begin to happen with trades as well. According to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News, both Nick Young and potentially Roy Hibbert could begin to be on the trade block. Both players have not been performing well with the team while Young and Scott have been clashing. As the Lakers continue to build for the future, getting draft picks and assets could begin to be a priority either this season or the offseason. Contractually speaking, Young is hard to move at $6 million per season. However, sources report the Lakers have already moved on from him, so the money might not matter.
