Could Russell Westbrook help the Nuggets? Examining his potential fit

LAS VEGAS — Russell Westbrook has long been one of the most polarizing players in the NBA. After a tumultuous 130-game stint starting in 2021 with his hometown Los Angeles Lakers, that perception didn’t change.

Since February 2023, Westbrook has been a member of the LA Clippers but is currently in limbo when it comes to his playing status for next season. Westbrook picked up the player option on his contract for 2024-25, but the Clippers have been trying to find a trade partner for him. If they’re successful, it will theoretically shine a little more light on where Westbrook will be playing. What we know, according to league sources, is that Westbrook and the Denver Nuggets have strong mutual interest. We also know Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokić is a Westbrook fan and is open to the 2017 NBA MVP being on Denver’s roster next season.

The Nuggets need to fill a hole in the backcourt. General manager Calvin Booth traded last year’s backup point guard Reggie Jackson to the Charlotte Hornets. Once free agency opened, Denver lost starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Orlando Magic. Despite those losses, the Nuggets are still championship-viable next season, and that’s because Jokić and Jamal Murray remain one of the best duos in the league. Add Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon to that equation, it makes for one of the league’s best starting units.

But for Denver to win a title, roster depth needs to improve. The Nuggets currently have, at most, seven proven playoff rotation-level players, and that’s not enough. That’s why the Nuggets are one of the only teams in the league that makes sense for Westbrook’s services.

We can’t run from the truth. Westbrook, 35, is significantly past his prime. He was once impossible to stay in front of, but he’s no longer at that level. His midrange jumper, once reliable, has almost completely deserted him. He hasn’t shot as much as 50 percent from the field on volume (at least 15 shots per game) since the 2019-20 season when he was with the Houston Rockets. That year was the last time he was an All-Star. He has always turned the ball over a lot, but now that he’s no longer the player he once was, those turnovers seem a lot louder. And he remains the same emotional player he has been through the bulk of his Hall-of-Fame career.

Still, he has strengths as a player that the Nuggets’ roster doesn’t have. If managed correctly, Westbrook can help keep Denver in championship contention and maybe even vault the Nuggets back to the front of the line. The bad news? Westbrook is like a gremlin when fed after midnight. If not managed correctly, all hell can break loose.

Here is how his presence can help the Denver Nuggets.

Off-the-dribble rim pressure

Westbrooks’s rim pressure and ability to attack the paint is the most obvious asset here, and it’s something the Nuggets weren’t able to replace last season after losing Bruce Brown during the 2023 offseason. Westbrook can still get downhill off the dribble. He can collapse a defense and bend it to the point where it gets caught in rotation.

That’s something the Nuggets didn’t have nearly enough of last year. Jokić is the best player in the world, and his gravity alone creates ball rotation and open looks. But too often, Murray was the only Nugget last season capable of attacking a defense off the dribble from the perimeter. In the postseason, that left the Nuggets vulnerable, When they ran into a Minnesota team able to defend Jokić without committing multiple bodies, the Nuggets eventually wore down.

Westbrook gives Denver a third player in addition to Murray and Jokić who is dynamic off the dribble and able to collapse a defense. If the Nuggets can find a balance there and if Westbrook finds a rhythm, that would create open driving lanes and open looks for almost everyone else on the roster.

‘Innings’ eater

One of the reasons the Nuggets didn’t repeat? They tired out in the playoffs. The reason for that? They exerted way too much energy in the regular season.

Jokić and Murray were forced to create too many possessions on too many mundane regular-season nights, and it came back to bite them in the postseason. Westbrook could help the Nuggets most here. After 16 seasons in the NBA, he’s still an energizer bunny with the ball in his hands, which is a testament to how he has kept himself in shape. If he can take, say, five to 10 possessions away from Jokić a game, it adds up, and it could help keep Jokić and Murray fresher as the season wears on.

There definitely has to be a balance in this area, however. Too much Westbrook takes us back to that gremlin thing. You don’t want him taking too many possessions because he’s simply not a positive at a certain level of usage. But, if he can be a primary ballhandler and initiate the offense in spurts, it has the chance to help Jokić and Murray over the long run.

The Westbrook attitude

When the Nuggets lost Brown, they lost a lot of nasty. Denver simply couldn’t replace the on-court verbal confidence Brown carried with him. This is not to say the Nuggets weren’t a tough and physical team. Jokić, Murray, Gordon, Caldwell-Pope — all of those guys are tough players who don’t back down to anyone.

Westbrook has an on-the-floor swagger that will help Denver, again, if that swagger is used correctly and kept in check. One thing about Westbrook is that he still believes he’s the best point guard in the league. He’s not, and he needs to come to grips with that fact. But the most dangerous man in a fight is the man who has no fear, no matter the opponent, and Westbrook is definitely that.

Ideally, the Nuggets take that lack of fear and balance it with the guys on the roster who can actually justify it with their level of play. It was like that with Brown, except Brown was at a better place in his basketball ability than Westbrook is now. But, if managed properly, it’s still a useful characteristic.

Passing

The Nuggets have already added Dario Šarić. If they add Westbrook, we may be talking about a significantly better passing team than we saw last season. Jokić is one of the best passers in the league, but he was the Nuggets’ only dynamic passer last season. (Murray and Gordon are both good.) Westbrook is still a terrific passer, and Šarić is a really good passer for a big. They key, of course, is that Westbrook’s usage has to be held to moderation. The more he handles the ball, the more he can go off the rails.

Teams have been able to take this away from Westbrook in recent seasons by simply not guarding him. If he matriculates to the Nuggets, it’s going to be incumbent on Denver to surround him with shooting. And Westbrook is going to have to figure out a way to make some shots. That’s been one of the biggest reasons for his fall from his prime. He used to be a terrific shooter from 15-18 feet. He hasn’t shot the ball well on volume since that season in Houston mainly because he doesn’t get the separation off the dribble that he did in the earlier years of his career. Shots that used to be wide open are now more contested.

In the end …

Westbrook was actually good on defense for the Clippers last season, particularly by staying in front of his man. Westbrook’s increase in defensive effectiveness had a lot to do with his role on offense decreasing. It allowed him to focus his energy elsewhere. The Nuggets need a way to replace the point-of-attack defense they lost when they lost Caldwell-Pope, and Westbrook can certainly help.

More importantly, Westbrook would help the Nuggets significantly in transition. His presence can help Jokić and Murray get easier looks at the basket and maybe even some uncontested looks.

Is he a perfect fit? No, and that’s because Westbrook isn’t going to be a perfect fit anywhere. But it could be a fit that’s mutually beneficial.

And most importantly, Westbrook is going to have a lot of motivation to make it work. If he wants to keep playing in the league beyond next season, he’s going to have to prove himself useful.

If Westbrook lands in Denver, he definitely has a chance.

(Photo of DeAndre Jordan and Russell Westbrook: Adam Pantozzi / NBAE via Getty Images)