Shannon Sharpe raves about Russell Westbrook’s performance and credits LA Lakers coach Darvin Ham - “Russ looks better in these two games than he did all of last season

The LA Lakers finally got their first win of the season, topping the Denver Nuggets 121-110, on Sunday in Los Angeles. It was their second game with their new lineup featuring Russell Westbrook coming off the bench. This is a new role for Westbrook, who has been a starter since he entered the league in 2008.

On FS1’s “Skip and Shannon: Undisputed,” Shannon Sharpe discussed how Westbrook looked in his new role and the future impact of the new lineup.

“Russ looks better in these two games than he did all of last season," Sharpe said.

Westbrook scored 18 points in each of the last two games, coming off the bench in both. In the last game, he shot particularly well, going 6-for-12, including 2-for-4 on 3-point shots. He also contributed eight rebounds and eight assists.

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Will Westbrook remain effective off the bench?

Westbrook played about 33 minutes in each game off the bench. That is more time than he saw in any of the three previous games he played as a starter this season.

Sometimes in NBA games, it doesn’t matter if one is the starter if one gets to finish games. Westbrook was on the floor when the game needed to be closed out on Sunday.

Sharpe said a lot of credit should go to Lakers coach Darvin Ham for being able to get the buy-in from one of his stars to take on this new role. Westbrook is a better fit for the second unit because when LeBron James is out of the game, he can be more ball-dominant. That's a role Westbrook is more accustomed to and suits his strengths.

This means, that if LeBron is not on the floor, the team will still have a playmaker who will help get other players involved. If Westbrook feels the need to be aggressive and score more, he can take charge of the second unit. He will also see the other team’s backups a lot and will have an easier time offensively against them.

This new lease on life could change some of the Lakers' plans on whether they would trade Westbrook. If they do decide to move him, he may look more valuable to other teams as he is putting up better numbers and it doesn’t appear that the Laker have to move him. If he stays and put up numbers like he is, Westbrook could be an early Sixth Man of the Year award favorite.