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Nikola Jokić may want Russell Westbrook to land in Denver, but he’s reportedly not making a fuss to make it happen.
Bennett Durando of the Denver Post reported Jokić has “endorsed” the idea of trading for Westbrook but hasn’t approached the front office to demand the team pulls off the trade.
The Los Angeles Clippers are reportedly trying to trade Westbrook after he opted in to his $4 million player option for the 2024-25 season. Despite Westbrook being under contract for a relatively paltry sum, the Clippers signed Kris Dunn and Kevin Porter Jr. and re-signed James Harden this summer, making Westbrook the odd man out in the guard rotation.
Westbrook averaged 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists last season, by far the worst season of his career from an individual numbers perspective. That largely had to do with Westbrook taking on a secondary role behind Harden in the rotation, but the Clippers were consistently better when Harden was leading the offense over Westbrook.
The future Hall of Famer will likely be playing for his sixth team in the last seven seasons if the Clippers find a taker. His style of play has been a difficult mix with several superstars along the way, with Harden, LeBron James and Bradley Beal being among the co-stars who couldn’t find on-court success with Westbrook.
Jokić is the offensive fulcrum in Denver, which could make him playing alongside Westbrook a difficult fit. It’s more likely Westbrook would lead bench units and play alongside Jokić minimally, though Westbrook’s ability as a cutter could work well when Jokić is navigating the offense from the block.
The Nuggets are in desperate need of some sort of positivity coming out of this offseason. They already lost guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Orlando Magic, the second straight summer they saw a key wing contributor leave in the offseason (Bruce Brown).
Coming off its 2023 NBA championship, Denver has been unable to do much roster improvement around Jokić, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. as the realities of the new collective bargaining agreement created a squeeze around the tax. Westbrook might not be a perfect fit, but he’s a talented and cheap one at $4 million.
That’s all the Nuggets front office should really need to pull the trigger.
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