Two weeks after being traded to the Utah Jazz, Russell Westbrook is back in L.A.
Westbrook scored 27 factors on Feb. 7 in his last sport with the Lakers. Los Angeles despatched him to the Jazz the following day, however he’ll head back to the identical house enviornment with out enjoying a sport elsewhere.
The Clippers overhauled their roster on the commerce deadline, bringing in Eric Gordon, Mason Plumlee and Bones Hyland, whereas sending out Reggie Jackson, Luke Kennard and John Wall. Now they’ll have Westbrook as nicely, making it the second time in 26 months a crew swapped out Wall for Westbrook.
The transfer additionally reunites Westbrook with Paul George, his teammate from 2017-19 in Oklahoma City. The Thunder completed fourth and sixth within the Western Conference each seasons, with George having his finest particular person season in 2018-19. PG-13 completed third within the MVP voting after averaging 28 factors and main the league in steals, however he requested for a commerce when Kawhi Leonard signed with the Clippers that summer season.
That’s additionally what sparked Westbrook’s nomadic journey throughout the league. The Clippers will likely be his fifth crew within the final 5 years after spending his first 11 seasons with the Thunder. He’s gone from All-Star to scapegoat since then, however one can see how he is smart with the Clippers.
The Clippers had been lacking some extent guard past Terance Mann. While they added Hyland, George struggled to say one thing constructive about his new teammate in a current interview.
Westbrook additionally offers rim strain that the Clippers have lacked. He takes 31 p.c of his pictures inside three toes of the basket, the next proportion than any Clipper guard in addition to Mann. Westbrook’s poor three-point capturing damage the Lakers, however the Clippers have loads of gamers who could make threes. If something, they could be too perimeter-oriented, and Westbrook offers another.
That’s not to say this transfer is ideal. Arguably, the Clippers want a real level guard much less due to the ball-handling abilities of George and Leonard. At age 34, Westbrook could also be worse than Gordon or Norman Powell however nonetheless take their minutes.
With the Lakers, Westbrook had an enormous, $40M+ contract. It’s robust to sit a participant with such a monetary dedication, particularly with restricted options on the roster.
With the Clippers, there’s no such obligation from the crew. Utah purchased out Westbrook’s deal, so the Clippers are solely on the hook for the minimal. If it does not work with Westbrook, there’s nothing retaining coach Tyronn Lue from merely enjoying another person.
The hope is that George and Westbrook can recapture the magic that they had in OKC. At the very least, Westbrook will get to play in his house metropolis with out chants of “Westbrick” from the group, and in contrast to the Lakers, Westbrook might be very assured he is making the playoffs.
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