Russell Westbrook Adds Depth, Energy, and Playmaking to the Denver Nuggets
At the urging of three-time NBA regular season MVP Nikola Jokic, the Denver Nuggets signed 2017 NBA regular season MVP Russell Westbrook. The Nuggets did not have to give up anything for Westbrook, who was waived by the Utah Jazz after the Jazz acquired him in a sign and trade deal with the L.A. Clippers.
Westbrook spent the first 11 seasons of his career with the Oklahoma City Thunder before being traded to the Houston Rockets in 2019 for Chris Paul and four first round draft picks. Westbrook's stay in Houston lasted just one season, as his serious approach to the game--playing hard consistently and showing up on time for practices and games--did not mesh well with the much more casual approach favored by James Harden. The Rockets traded Westbrook to the Washington Wizards in 2020 for John Wall and a first round draft pick. Westbrook averaged 22.2 ppg, 11.7 apg, and 11.5 rpg for the Wizards in 2020-21, capturing his third assists title in four years while leading the Wizards to their only playoff appearance between 2018 and 2024. Westbrook also broke Oscar Robertson's record for career triple doubles.
After the 2021 season, Westbrook landed with the L.A. Lakers as part of a five team trade. The LeBron James-Anthony Davis-Russell Westbrook trio could have been a force to reckon with if the Lakers committed to playing defense and then pushing the ball up the court at a fast pace after defensive stops, but James prefers to slow the game down, monopolize the ball, and then find scapegoats after his team loses. Westbrook and Coach Frank Vogel became the prime scapegoats for James and his media sycophants. The Lakers fired Vogel in 2022, just two years after he led the Lakers to the championship, and then they traded Westbrook to the Utah Jazz in February 2023. The Jazz waived Westrook, who finished the season with the L.A. Clippers. Westbrook averaged 15.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg, and 7.5 apg overall in the 2022-23 season, and he averaged 23.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg, and 7.4 apg during the Clippers' first round loss to the Phoenix Suns. The Clippers acquired James Harden early during the 2023-24 season, and Westbrook accepted being relegated to a reserve role. Westbrook averaged 11.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg, and 4.5 apg while shooting .454 from the field. He finished tied for seventh in the voting for Sixth Man of the Year. Not surprisingly, the Clippers flamed out again in the playoffs, with Kawhi Leonard getting hurt, Harden putting up his typical "concert tour" field goal percentages, and Paul "I call myself Playoff P" George disappearing as usual.
In short, Westbrook has spent the past four seasons with organizations that are not serious about consistently putting together a championship caliber program: he should get a special award for carrying the "Wheeze-hards" to the playoffs, the Lakers have not advanced past the first round in three of the four seasons after winning the 2020 "bubble title," and the Clippers put way too much faith in Leonard's balky knees, George's flimsy playoff resume, and Harden's documented record of disappearing in the games that matter most.
Westbrook will benefit tremendously from leaving teams engulfed in drama to go to a team that is serious about winning but a bit shorthanded now due to salary cap constraints; in the past two years, the Nuggets have lost Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, two key rotation players from their 2023 championship team. Westbrook will not replace their "3 and D" contributions, but he is an elite scorer, rebounder, and playmaker who consistently plays hard and who would do anything to help his team. The Nuggets have a great organization from ownership to management to the coaching staff to the tone set by Jokic, and Westbrook will fit in perfectly with a team that is serious about winning.
Westbrook's critics dismiss his rebounding numbers as stat padding. It is evident that Westbrook's critics--including but not limited to Amin Elhassan and Zach Harper--either have an agenda or do not understand basketball very well, because it is easy to demonstrate (1) that Westbrook's rebounds are not fungible and (2) there are many real, documented examples of stat padding that the league and its media partners are quite happy to ignore.
Westbrook will be a great energizer as a sixth man for the Nuggets, and he is still capable of being a starter as well.
Labels: Bruce Brown, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Jamal Murray, James Harden, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, L.A. Clippers, L.A. Lakers, Nikola Jokic, Russell Westbrook, Washington Wizards
posted by David Friedman @ 5:15 PM
4 Comments:
I hope Westbrook finally gets a shot at redemption with Denver. It appeared that he was going to with the Clippers but then they unwisely traded for Harden and his role was diminished. I know that Westbrook said all the right things publicly after the trade but I refuse to believe that he wasn’t privately irked about being demoted to the bench so that Harden could start. It appears that Denver is fully committed to utilizing Westbrook correctly and I hope that remains the case.
Marcel
I'm not a fan of Russel Westbrook cause he a great individual player that doesn't impact winning
I think in this role with Denver he can be solid for them. Like Bruce brown like
But it's all about mpj playing better and Murray playing well
Michael:
There is nothing wrong with being "privately irked" as long as you do your job, and Westbrook did his job at a high level. Westbrook has never thrown an organization, coach, or teammate under the bus, which places him in a special, rare category.
Marcel:
Westbrook was a key player for OKC teams that reached the WCF four times and the NBA Finals once, and he led the Wizards to the playoffs--something that no other player has done in the past six years--so the evidence does not support your assertion that Westbrook has no impact on winning.
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