Los Angeles Notes: Westbrook, Schröder, Wall, Clippers

Russell Westbrook‘s availability for the Lakers season opener appears to be in jeopardy. Westbrook left the team’s preseason game against Sacramento with a left hamstring injury, Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register tweets.

Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said after the game that Westbrook told him he’d be OK, according to ESPN. Westbrook came off the bench for the preseason finale, a move that Ham described as a “realignment.”

We have more on the Los Angeles teams:

• The Lakers “essentially” paused Westbrook trade discussions at the start of training camp, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said on NBA Today (Twitter link). They’re expected to start engaging potential suitors again during the season, once teams start to get a clearer sense of what their rosters and rotations look like and how they stack up against the rest of the league.
• Dennis Schröder is being evaluated for a right finger injury and didn’t travel with the team to Sacramento, according to Shams Charania on The Rally (Twitter link). The Lakers have some concerns that it could be a long-term injury, Charania adds. Schröder returned to the Lakers for a second stint on a one-year, $2,641,682 free agent contract.
• John Wall has not only boosted the Clippers’ backcourt but also the locker room, according to Marcus Morris. The veteran forward believes the Clippers’ camaraderie has improved due to Wall’s presence and his aggressive, talkative nature, a contrast to many of his new teammates, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times tweets.
• Clippers president of business operations Gillian Zucker says that most fans are “violently opposed” to the idea of changing the team’s name, Law Murray of The Athletic writes. “It means something to them,” Zucker said. “That this is a team that has direction, that has endured, that has been through a lot and has found its way forward and has a very, very clear North Star at this point. And there are people who have attached themselves to that idea and that notion, and it’s important to them, and they don’t want to see that disappear.”