Former NBA MVP Russell Westbrook plans to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers once he completes a buyout with the Utah Jazz, CBS Sports HQ’s Bill Reiter confirmed Monday. Westbrook was traded by the Los Angeles Lakers to the Jazz in a three-team deal ahead of the trading deadline earlier this month.
In 52 games for the Lakers this season, most of them off the bench, Westbrook averaged 15.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game. But while his scoring stats were still solid, his defense, inefficient shooting (41.7 percent from field, 29.6 percent from 3-point land) and poor fit alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis were again a concern for the lakers Add to that the fact that James publicly advocated for the team to trade him, which didn’t help the atmosphere in the dressing room.
But despite some of Westbrook’s struggles with the Lakers and his declining game in recent years, the Clippers are willing to give him a chance. This is likely due, at least in part, to comments made by Paul George, who told the media earlier this month that the Clippers players were looking to sign Westbrook.
“I mean, if there’s anyone out there – Russell,” George said. “If it makes sense and obviously suits our team, we’re all for it. You know we need a point guard. But do you know, [at] the same [time], I think we are good too. If nothing happened, we have enough in this dressing room to make it work.
“But it would definitely make our team better if we had that traditional point guard that kind of gets us into things and makes the game easy. Hopefully Russell sees this and we find something out.”
While it’s true that the Clippers don’t have a traditional point guard on their roster, it’s not clear they need one. They were great with Terance Mann on the starting lineup as the nominal point guard alongside George, Kawhi Leonard, Marcus Morris Sr. and Ivica Zubac. This five-man group has a combined net rating of plus 14.8 in 142 minutes and the Clippers are 7-3 in the 10 games they have been fielded in.
It would be a huge mistake to include Westbrook in the starting XI just to have a “real point guard.” At the same time, if you make him the sixth man and give him control of the second unit, why would you trade for Eric Gordon and Bones Hyland less than two weeks ago? It appears the team will be exploring both options as Westbrook is expected to start at some point, but perhaps not immediately, according to Law Murray.
The Clippers are 10-4 for the past month and have climbed to fourth place in the Western Conference now that Leonard and George are both healthy. Adding Westbrook to the mix right when they’re getting in shape doesn’t make much sense.