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Russell Westbrook is about to play for his third NBA team in three seasons.
The Los Angeles Clippers are trading him to the Utah Jazz for guard Kris Dunn, and the Jazz are expected to waive him and buy out the remainder of his contract.
Once that happens, Westbrook is then expected to join the Denver Nuggets.
This news caused Skip Bayless to warn Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic about what happened with Westbrook during a failed stint with the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Joker, beware: Once, LeBron pushed for the Lakers to go get Russell Westbrook. Pretty soon LeBron was pushing even harder for the Lakers to get rid of him,” Bayless wrote on social media.
Joker, beware: Once, LeBron pushed for the Lakers to go get Russell Westbrook. Pretty soon LeBron was pushing even harder for the Lakers to get rid of him.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) July 18, 2024
Jokic reportedly pushed for the Nuggets to acquire Westbrook, and on one hand, the guard could give the Nuggets the type of veteran facilitator and scoring threat they have badly needed off the bench.
However, Westbrook is a very poor perimeter shooter and has been turnover-prone over the years, not to mention his penchant for making questionable decisions.
This past season with the Clippers, he averaged 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game playing less than 23 minutes per contest, but he shot just 27.3 percent from 3-point range and 68.8 percent from the free throw line.
He is still a legitimate threat in terms of attacking the basket, especially in transition, but many have steered clear of him because of his many flaws.
Denver won the NBA championship in 2023 but went into the most recent campaign with a weak bench, and it was likely a big factor in getting dumped in the second round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Nuggets lost starting shooting guard Kantavious Caldwell-Pope this offseason, so even if Westbrook works out for them, their bench will still be at least a bit of a problem, and thus the idea of them winning a second ring seems far-fetched right now.
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