The Los Angeles Lakers' experiment of partnering Russell Westbrook with LeBron James and Anthony Davis this past season was, by most accounts, a failure. It provided plenty of discussion points for the media, but the results on the court were disastrous.

Los Angeles finished with a paltry 33 wins, missed the postseason entirely and fired coach Frank Vogel following the season.

While the Lakers watch the conference finals from home, they're busy working on changes for the 2022-23 season. A significant overhaul, however, is extremely unlikely.

There are multiple reasons for this, starting with the fact that L.A. won't have a first-round pick in the 2022 NBA draft. The team was awarded the No. 8 pick in Tuesday's draft lottery, but that selection is going to the New Orleans Pelicans as part of the Davis trade—a fact New Orleans was quick to celebrate on social media.

L.A.'s top-heavy roster is also a problem in terms of salary. According to Spotrac, the Lakers roster will cost $175.4 million next season, which means big free-agent signings are off the table. They're unlikely to glean cap relief from Westbrook, who will presumably exercise his $47 million player option.

Unless the Lakers are willing to part with future draft assets, Westbrook is the organization's biggest trade chip. Some might say that moving him would be good for the team, too, as Westbrook never found chemistry with the rest of the roster and had a disconnect with Vogel over his role in the offense.

"I think it's unfortunate, to be honest, because I've never had an issue with any of my coaches before," Westbrook said, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "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."

However, finding a team to take on Westbrook and give up anything of value would be tricky. And the latest rumors seem to indicate that this isn't the route Los Angeles wants to take.