The ex-Lakers point guard is acquiring some potential buyout market interest.
Ex-Los Angeles Lakers reserve point guard Russell Westbrook has garnered plenty of interest on a relatively barren buyout market this year. LA, as you’ll recall, shipped the overpriced backup out of town in a three-team deal that brought back starters D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, and Jarred Vanderbilt, all of whom look like terrific fits alongside stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Per Shams Charania of The Athletic, the other NBA franchise that occupies Crypto.com Arena, the LA Clippers, has been given permission to chat with Westbrook from his current team, the Utah Jazz, which seems to have no intention of playing the $47.1 million man. Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN reported that Westbrook’s former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Paul George, as well as PG-13’s Clippers colleague Marcus Morris, have both been stumping for Westbrook to join the No. 4 seed in the West.
“I mean if there’s, you know, somebody out there — Russell,” George said. “If it makes sense and obviously it goes with our team, we’re all for it. You know, we need a point guard”
After the team traded John Wall and Reggie Jackson, Terrence Mann is their main point guard.
“I’m campaigning, too, for him then,” said Morris. “We accept him open arms, man. Let him be himself. We need the personality, we need the veteran. He’s been in the playoffs a lot of times, been to the championship. I want him to come. I think that you can’t kill a wounded dog. You give him an opportunity to come back, it could be dangerous.”
These sound like the quotes of two guys who never watched the fourth quarters of Lakers games. Westbrook remains incredibly athletic, especially at the advanced age of 34, but his late-game decision-making, lack of inconsistent defense, and terrible shooting make him a tough fit on most teams at this stage of his career. For a team that’s so close legitimate title contention, adding Westbrook could be a big mistake. So I guess Lakers fans should be cheering for this to happen.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN recently revealed that Westbrook has also had conversations with the Washington Wizards, the team that shipped him out to the Lakers in the summer of 2021, about a possible reunion.
Beyond these two franchises, he has also had conversations with the Chicago Bulls (who are so bad they are in danger of missing the play-in tournament entirely, so it’s unclear if Westbrook would actually be that interested in joining them) and the Miami Heat, a team that already has some cramped spacing due to the lackluster three-point shooting of stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.
A play-in team like the Wizards probably makes the most sense for Westbrook at this stage in his career. He’ll get plenty of run while competing for a fringe postseason franchise (the 28-30 Wizards are the ninth seed in the East).
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