Tramel's ScissorTales: Russell Westbrook goes to battle against his own team, the Lakers

Russell Westbrook has gone to battle against opponents and the media and conventional wardrobes and lord knows who all else.

But now Westbrook has gone to battle against his own team.

In some ways, you can’t blame him.

During Laker exit interviews Monday, Westbrook didn’t hold back. He pinged departed coach Frank Vogel and superstar teammates LeBron and Anthony Davis. Everybody but Jack Nicholson and the Laker Girls, when you get right down to it.

A sampling, with my responses:

► Westbrook on his disconnected relationship with Vogel: “I think it's unfortunate, to be honest, because I've never had an issue with any of my coaches before. I'm not sure what his issue was with me or I'm not sure why, but I can't really give you an answer to why we really never connected."

Perhaps because Vogel knew what most of us figured, that the trade for Westbrook – costing the Lakers Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell – was a steal for the Washington Wizards. The trade was pushed by LeBron and Davis, but basketball people know that LeBron needs the ball in his hands and needs to be surrounded by shooters. Westbrook’s shooting drags down a team.

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► Westbrook on the media: “The famous 'source' stories that came out about myself, whether it be between me and the staff, me and Frank, me and the fans, there's just so many made-up stories that are not true. It's just always having to fight against that constantly. It's just not (being) given a fair chance. It's like, 'OK, now I got to fight against this madeup story. Now I got to fight against this one. Now I go to fight against this one. Now I got to fight against this one.’”

Welcome to the Lakers. You signed up for this, Russ. The Lakers are a dysfunctional organization that often throws its own under the bus. Vogel, exhibit A. Those stories weren’t made up. They were planted by Laker people.

► Westbrook on LeBron’s and Davis’ statements that they would “let Russ be Russ”: “But that wasn't true … It's a combination of where we are on the floor, positioning, fit and challenge, trial and error, being able to play on the floor with each other. Finding ways to be able to utilize us to the best of our abilities. It's that simple."

Uh, taking on LeBron doesn’t seem to be the plan of action. I don’t know if LeBron will take offense. But the only possible way Westbrook could have fit with the Lakers is as LeBron’s understudy. And there were opportunities. LeBron missed 26 games. And Westbrook as a super sub – or a starter who goes to the bench quickly and returns to the floor when LeBron rests – was the best plan.

Instead, Westbrook played in 78 games, started 78 and often stood around while LeBron ran the show. A terrible, terrible fit.

Not all of the Lakers’ disastrous season was Westbrook’s fault. LA finished 33-49 and out of the 10-team postseason from the Western Conference.

But Westbrook at least played. Davis played only 40 games; he missed more than half the season. And somebody somewhere – Vogel, ownership, LeBron, general manager Rob Pelinka, somebody – liked Westbrook. He played the most minutes on the team; 539 more than runner-up Malik Monk.

But Westbrook, who actually bent his will to accommodate superstar pairings in Houston (with James Harden) and Washington (Bradley Beal) the previous two years, didn’t do much bending in LA.

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“When I first got here, the ability to be able to do what I'm able to do for a team and an organization wasn't given a fair chance," he said.

Uh, what Westbrook could do for a team has changed. He’s no longer the super-freak athlete he was in 11 Oklahoma City seasons. And even so, he’s not the main man. Not in Los Angeles. Not on a team with LeBron.

But the Lakers are to blame, too. Westbrook’s 29.8% 3-point shooting is not much different from his last seven years of deep-ball shots – 30.6%. Westbrook’s turnover rate, 17.3% of the possessions he ended resulted in turnovers, actually was down from a career high 18.0 last season. Westbrook’s 44.4% shooting overall was higher than his career percentage.

Westbrook still rebounded like crazy (7.8 per game), and he still distributed the ball well. His assist percentage was down (31.6) from his established rate of 46.5 the previous nine years.

Westbrook never was an efficient player, but he almost always was an effective player. He just no longer is a star, which neither the Lakers nor Westbrook seem to realize.

"Just my play in general, not my best season, just going off my own personal scale," Westbrook said. "Obviously I'm coming off averaging a triple-double, so anything less than that would not be a good season for me in my eyes, you know what I'm saying? So that's why the scale of where it comes from is a little bit different."

Will Westbrook be back next season? He’s got a $47 million contract, his option, and he would be foolish to not active the contract. He’s not likely to get a quarter of that on the open market.

“Like any player, we'll partner with him after that decision is made about what's best for his future," Pelinka said. "Rest assured, we're going to look under every stone for ways to be better and be open to anything that will improve our team and will put us in a position to compete at a higher level next year than we did this year."

What a mess. A mess that many saw coming.

More: Will Thunder guard Josh Giddey make All-Rookie first team? His injury has hurt his case

NBA predictions: Nets, Clippers to advance

The NBA postseason – but not the playoffs – start Tuesday night with the play-in tournament. Play-in. Not playoff.

The play-in tournament is of particular interest to the Thunder. The Clippers’ first-round draft pick belongs to OKC. If the Clippers lose two straight in the play-in tournament, they fall into the lottery.

Of course, even in the lottery, the Clippers have just a 3.4% chance of moving into the top four of the draft. Otherwise, their pick is 14th. So it likely means little for the Thunder, win or lose for the Clippers. If the Clippers make the playoffs, their draft pick would be 15th.

Anyway, here are my first-round (and play-in) predictions for the NBA:

Play-in

Cavaliers at Netropolitans: Brooklyn. Just too much Kevin Durant. Cleveland has been a great story, but the Cavs have been sliding and are beat up anyway.

Clippers at Timberwolves: Minnesota. The T-Wolves have hosted two playoff games since 2004. That’s two playoff games in 18 years. The Target Center should be rocking.

Hornets at Hawks: Atlanta. Two evenly-matched teams, each at 43-39. But the Hawks have been on the upswing for months.

Spurs at Pelicans: New Orleans. What San Antonio is doing in the play-in game is anybody’s guess. The Spurs should have been tanking.

Pelicans at Clippers: Los Angeles. Paul George makes all the difference, though New Orleans has been playing better.

Hawks at Cavaliers: Atlanta. A road upset. But again, the magic from the great start seems to have fled Cleveland, while the Hawks have abundant playoff experience from a year ago.

First round

Eastern Conference

Heat vs. Hawks: Miami in five. Heat is pulling for Brooklyn on Tuesday night. Otherwise, the Nets could sneak into the playoffs as the 8-seed and draw Miami.

76ers vs. Raptors: Toronto in six. The Raptors were 14-16 the day after Christmas. Since then, Toronto is 34-18 and has been one of the best teams in the NBA. Plus, Sixer defensive stopper Matisse Thybulle is banned from playing in Canada, over vaccine issues.

Celtics vs. Nets: Celtics in seven. Boston has been the NBA’s best story, after a hideous start. The Celtics can score and they can defend.

Bucks vs. Bulls: Milwaukee in four. Billy Donovan had Chicago riding high early, but injuries and slumps have curtailed the Bulls express.

Western Conference

Suns vs. Pelicans: Phoenix in four. Could Zion Williamson have made a big difference? Sure. The biggest difference would have been avoiding the Suns.

Jazz at Mavericks: Utah in six. I don’t know what’s wrong with the Jazz, but I have to believe a team with Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley can overcome its perimeter defense problems to beat Dallas.

Nuggets at Warriors: Golden State in six. Nikola Jokic has dragged wounded Denver about as far as it can be dragged.

Grizzlies vs. Timberwolves: Memphis in seven. Young teams often struggle in playoff debuts, and Memphis probably will. But not enough.

Harkless exit would hurt the Sooners

OU’s best basketball player, Elijah Harkless, has entered the transfer portal, and that can’t be good news for Porter Moser’s program.

Harkless, a gritty defender with occasional offensive flashes, seemed to embody Moser’s style of play. Tough, blue collar, dedicated to victory.

Harkless suffered a knee injury in mid-February and missed OU’s final nine games. The Sooners scrapped their way to a 5-4 record without Harkless, including a Big 12 quarterfinal upset of Baylor, but it’s not hard to imagine OU getting over the hump against Texas Tech in the semifinals, if Harkless had been available. The Sooners lost 56-55 and just missed out on an NCAA Tournament berth.

Moser was expected to rebuild through the transfer portal, but with Harkless and Umoja Gibson as returning cornerstones. But Gibson now says he will explore professional basketball, though he didn’t rule out returning to OU, and Harkless has entered the portal.

Harkless transferred to OU two years ago from Cal State-Northridge and was the same kind of player for Lon Kruger in 2020-21 as with Moser a year later.

Harkless averaged 10.0 points a game, 4.1 rebounds and shot 32.3% from 3-point range this past season. But his defense was stellar.

Perhaps the success of Harkless’ 2020-21 teammates factored into his decision to check out the transfer landscape.

Brady Manek played four years at OU but transferred to North Carolina last spring and became a Tar Heel star, helping UNC reach the NCAA Championship Game.

Alondes Williams was a part-time starter in 2020-21 (so was Harkless) for OU, then last year transferred to Wake Forest and had a breakout season. He was the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year.

Here are Harkless’ and Williams’ numbers from their year together.

Minutes per game: Harkless 28.7, Williams 18.5.

Points per game: Harkless 8.1, Williams 6.7.

Rebounds per game: Harkless 5.4, Williams 2.8.

Assists per game: Harkless 2.3, Williams 1.3.

Three-point shooting: Harkless .321, Williams .167.

Williams was the ACC player of the year. Manek is a North Carolina hero with a bushel of March Madness memories.

Harkless might have seen their success and said, why not me?

Tramel: BYU's ascension to the Big 12 started with the revered LaVell Edwards

Mailbag: LaVell Edwards Stadium

My Brigham Young reports captured the attention of Cougar fans, including my take on BYU’s facilities:

Matt: “You absolutely captured LES (LaVell Edwards Stadium) in just a few sentences. We love our location and our fans. Our new video boards filled an obvious gap, but we have been pining for amenity upgrades at the stadium for decades. BYU has the money; it’s always a question of whether or not the money meets the mission of the Church (of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) – to bring people into Christ. We are told zero tithing money goes toward BYU sports. It’s a university budget thing.”

Tramel: Like I said, BYU’s stadium ranks below the Big 12 standard, mostly in amenities. The setting, hard by the Wasatch Mountains, trumps anything in the Big 12. The atmosphere, I’ll be anxious to experience, but I’ve heard nothing but good things. But to keep up on revenue streams, LaVell Edwards Stadium could use more luxury suites. That’s my biggest takeaway.

Tramel's ScissorTales: Billy Bowman not ready to attempt the two-way path of Deion Sanders

The List: Highland Park High School graduates

Scottie Scheffler won the Masters on Sunday, continuing a trend of Dallas’ Highland Park High School as a breeding ground for high-achieving athletes. Here are the 10 most accomplished athletes in Highland Park history:

1. Bobby Layne, 1944: University of Texas star quarterback who became an all-time great pro quarterback.

2. Clayton Kershaw, 2006: Three-time Cy Young Award winner has pitched 14 seasons for the Dodgers, with a 185-84 record.

3. Matthew Stafford, 2006: The 12-year Detroit Lions quarterback was traded to the Rams last year and led Los Angeles to a Super Bowl title.

4. Scottie Scheffler, 2014: Golf’s newest superstar has become a 2022 sensation, at age 25.

5. Doak Walker, 1945: The 1948 Heisman Trophy winner at Southern Methodist had a standout, six-year career with the Detroit Lions.

6. David Browning, 1948: The 1952 Olympic diving springboard gold medalist, he died in a 1956 training-flight crash as a member of the U.S. Navy.

7. David Richards, 1984: The offensive tackle went to SMU and UCLA, then made 128 NFL starts with the Chargers, Lions and Falcons.

8. Kyle Rote Jr., 1968: As a 1973 rookie in the North American Soccer League, Rote led the NASL in scoring. He was the only American in the 17-year history of the league to win the scoring title.

9. Mike Heath, 1982: A three-time gold-medal winner in swimming relays at the 1984 Olympics, plus the 200-meter individual silver medalist.

10. Chris Young, 1998: The current Texas Rangers general manager pitched in the majors 13 years, with a record of 79-67.

Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Russell Westbrook goes to battle against the Los Angeles Lakers