Report: Westbrook to come off bench in Lakers' preseason finale

Russell Westbrook will come off the bench in the Los Angeles Lakers' final preseason game against the Sacramento Kings Friday night, tweets ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Wojnarowski adds that head coach Darvin Ham and the future Hall-of-Fame point guard have been exploring the possibility of him quarterbacking the second unit instead of starting.

ESPN reporting with @Mcten: The Lakers are planning to bring Russell Westbrook off the bench in the final preseason game vs. Kings tonight (ESPN, 10 ET). Darvin Ham and Westbrook have been exploring possibility of Westbrook quarterbacking second unit and they'll try it tonight.

Multiple reports indicated the Lakers came close to trading Westbrook in the off-season after the 33-year-old struggled in many areas during his first season with the Lakers.

While he averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game, Westbrook shot 44.4 per cent from the field, 29.8 per cent from beyond the arc and 66.7 per cent at the free throw line.

The Lakers acquired point guard Patrick Beverley in a trade with the Utah Jazz and signed guard Dennis Schroder last month.

Los Angeles will kick off their 2022-23 campaign on Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors.