Russell Westbrook Appears To Be On His Way To The Mile High City To Join Nikola Jokic And The Denver Nuggets
Annnnnd there it is. A move that had been rumored for the last few weeks is finally a done deal, and shockingly everyone involved comes away better? Danny Ainge decided to get into the mix and walked away with a pick swap for a player he was losing anyway in free agency (Kris Dunn). The Clippers get a younger, defensive minded secondary ball handler at a tradable salary number, and the Nuggets bring in the veteran bench/guard help that their roster desperately needed.
While I'm sure Dunn will be fine on the Clippers, the real story here is obviously Westbrook and the Nuggets. Before this trade, this is what their depth chart looked like
After losing Bruce Brown in 2023 and not really replacing him and then losing KCP this summer and not really replacing him, it's not crazy to suggest that the Nuggets roster has more than a few holes/question marks heading into the season. With the West getting better and the Celts still being a wagon, the Nuggets had to do something. I was a little surprised they didn't win the Gary Trent Jr sweepstakes, but when you also factor in the health concerns around Jamal Murray, I'd say backup point guard/secondary ball handler was their biggest need at the moment. You simply cannot go into the season with Trey Alexander/Jalen Pickett as your reserve point guards. Not when you're goal is competing for titles.
And even if you think Russell Westbrook stinks and is washed up (not really true), I imagine the cost will be low and if Tyus Jones wasn't an option than this is probably the best you can do
Yes, the shooting is a bit of a concern given that Westbrook only put up 45/27% splits last year as a Clipper in 68 games, but you have to remember, he's going to get the Jokic bump. Everyone's life becomes infinitely easier offensively playing off of Jokic, and the same will be true for Russ. Is he perfect? God no. But we're talking about a bench role here, and even with his faults I still think you can do worse. Plus, as a first ballot HOFer still looking for his first ring, I would much rather watch Westbrook on a team that matters compared to him being on another lottery team. This adds way more juice to the West and the Nuggets season, which every fan should be able to get behind.
The question of course is will it even make a difference? Coming off a 6 game playoff run of 26/23% shooting this past postseason is a bit concerning, but then again Westbrook put up 23.6 on 41/35% in the 5 games for the Clippers in the playoffs the season prior. If he can be somewhere in the middle for the Nuggets? I think that helps. At this point, I think you're kidding yourself if you think Westbrook is going to change who he is as a player at this point in terms of his approach and playstyle, but the hope has to be that playing with Jokic and on a legit title team will have a positive impact. He showed a willingness to sacrifice as a Clipper and it helped, so why can't it work for the Nuggets?
Their issue of course is even now that they've figured out their backup point guard situation, the wing position is still very much a question. The Nuggets not only need a massive leap from Christian Braun, but they also need all their young wings/PFs to prove to be NBA rotation caliber players as well. We saw last year what not replacing Bruce Brown did and how the Nuggets' depth wasn't good enough, well now the pressure is even higher with no KCP, a player who was massive for the Nuggets in their title run and success last season. If that part of the puzzle doesn't work out, then it doesn't really matter that they just traded for Russell Westbrook.