I don't think the Lakers struggling with Westbrook was a surprise at all. The Lakers being too old and not have enough shooters to spread the floor were the major concerns. Despite the Lakers' overall age and the criticisms of the Westbrook trade, it was expected that the Lakers will be a competitive team.
The fans and the media didn't expect the Lakers to perform so poorly this season. I'm flabbergasted by the way the Lakers squandered so many big leads and being ran out of the building by teams with lesser talent. In all my years of watching basketball, since the era of Magic Johnson and James Worthy, I have never seen a Lakers team so discombulated. There is no team chemistry between Westbrook and Bron, not even in defensive side. Westbrook jeopardized so many critical possessions with his boneheaded decisions. Bron not putting enough effort on defense and the Lakers dont have a reliable frontline. I have never seen a team fell off so hard on the bottom of the Western Conference with 4 Hall of Famers and three of them are listed as the top NBA 75 players of all time.