For the third time in four years, an NBA franchise will attempt the Russell Westbrook experiment. The Denver Nuggets added the enigmatic guard this offseason in hopes that he can help them contend for the championship.
The franchise has just hosted its media day, giving Westbrook the opportunity to talk about how he can boost its title aspirations. He believes his Nuggets tenure won't go as badly as his previous stints with the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers did, implying that the L.A. squads held him back.
Duds with the Lake Show and Clips
Interestingly, the former MVP was this excited when the Lakers traded for him in the 2021 offseason and when the Clippers picked him up from the waivers near the 2023 trade deadline.
The Purple and Gold tried using him as a starter during their first season together. However, that didn't prove fruitful, as the team failed to reach the postseason and finished 11th in the Western Conference.
The following campaign saw Westbrook play as a reserve for the first time since his rookie year. But the Lakers gave up on him months into the season, trading him to the Utah Jazz, who released him less than two weeks later.
For some reason, the Clippers then thought it was a good idea to bring him in to solve their point guard woes. However, his move from one L.A. organization to another ended in a similar fashion, with Russ demoted to the bench before being shipped to the Jazz in the 2024 offseason and joining free agency soon after.
Stud with the Nuggets?
Westbrook is evidently hoping his stay in Denver will go differently, and he has a Michael Malone-sized reason that it will.
According to the former triple-double king, Malone will utilize his strengths in ways the Lakers and Clippers didn't. It remains to be seen if that would bode well for the Nuggets or if the team's fans will turn on Russ months into the 2024-25 campaign.
To Westbrook's point, Denver did finish near the bottom of the league in pace last season, and his skills in the open court could definitely be a boon to the squad. It will also be entertaining to watch Nikola Jokic throw outlet passes to the nine-time All-Star for fastbreak opportunities.
Perhaps the challenge for Malone and his wards is during half-court sets, where Westbrook's lack of outside shooting can bog down their offense. Putting him in the dunker spot may not be valuable either because Aaron Gordon already fills that role.
The most viable solution, though, would likely be to deploy Russ with the second unit, which has been deemed by many pundits as one of the Nuggets' weaknesses this coming season.
Related: “Nikola is the best player in the world” - Russell Westbrook buries the narratives of being in a triple-double race with Nikola Jokic
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