The tone in the locker room after the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday was that the team is in need of immediate action ahead of the trade deadline.

Sources have told The Athletic that the Lakers no longer believe they can win at a high level with Russell Westbrook alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. But before Tuesday's game, the thinking was the Lakers would be unwilling to wave the white flag and admit their mistake of trading for Westbrook.

One Lakers staffer who had reservations about the trade when it was made in July recently told The Athletic, “I didn’t think it would be this bad.”

The Lakers discarded the remaining supporting cast of their title winning team of 2020 in trading Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma for Westbrook while also letting Alex Caruso walk in free agency. 

The only realistic trade of Westbrook at this venture is to the Houston Rockets for John Wall.