“Irreconcilable differences” have led to Russell Westbrook and his longtime agent, Thad Foucher, parting ways. In a statement given to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN on Friday night, Foucher indicated that he and Westbrook disagree on the best path forward for the Los Angeles Lakers’ point guard, with the Wasserman agent hinting that the difference stems from his belief that Westbrook should stay with the Lakers.
You can read Foucher’s entire statement here, but the following excerpt is where he implies that Westbrook wants to leave the team:
“Now, with a possibility of a fourth trade in four years, the marketplace is telling the Lakers they must add additional value with Russell in any trade scenario. And even then, such a trade may require Russell to immediately move on from the new team via buyout.
“My belief is that this type of transaction only serves to diminish Russell’s value and his best option is to stay with the Lakers, embrace the starting role and support that Darvin Ham publicly offered. Russell is a first-ballot Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame player and will prove that again before he is retired.
Foucher has represented Westbrook throughout his NBA career, making this a pretty stunning departure and an even more stunning statement. But despite that, Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times reports that Westbrook has never explicitly requested a trade from the Lakers, while Sopan Deb of the New York Times indicated that Westbrook liked a tweet in the aftermath of the news that seems instructive.
Multiple sources tell the @latimes that Russell Westbrook has never requested a trade from the Lakers.
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) July 16, 2022
https://twitter.com/SopanDeb/status/1548148995007975438
Westbrook has one year and approximately $47 million remaining on his contract.
