Los Angeles Clippers are about to add another big name to their star-studded roster. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojarowski, that’s to be expected Russell Westbrook end your breakup with Utah Jazz and sign with the team.
The Clippers point guards have been average all season. They traded John Wall and Reggie Jackson at the deadline and they seem to think Westbrook can help bolster that position. Will it work?
How much does Russell Westbrook have left?
Westbrook hasn’t been MVP in six seasons. He’s obviously not the same player he was then. But he’s not the completely useless player his haters make him out to be. DARKO, ranked the top metric in a HoopsHype survey of the NBA community, shows the steep decline of all of the Clippers’ veteran point guards.
In his prime, Westbrook was a guy who broke impact measurement systems. Today, his impact on DARKO is around a clean neutral, similar to that of Monte Morris or Gary Payton II. He’s still a serviceable player who can give you quality minutes while your stars are rested, but anyone expecting peak performance from him is aiming too high.
However, stats aren’t going to capture Westbrook’s full impact. His adjustment to the Lakers has been horrible. It should improve a bit on the other side of town. The Clippers needed someone who could get to the rim and break down defenses, because their offense has often been bogged down and isolated. They rank 20th in points per game according to NBA Stats and a mediocre 18th in assist percentage. These problems have led their offense to 21st in the league.
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The Clippers will acquire Westbrook mainly to answer this question: Can he get to the rim, make defenses break down and help shooters? The short answer is yes. Westbrook is still a driving force, even at 34. His 15.1 drives per game rank 12th in the league, which is much better than what the Clippers previously had.
| Player | Discs per match | Minutes per game |
|---|---|---|
| Russell Westbrook | 15.1 | 28.7 |
| John Wall | 8.6 | 22.2 |
| Reggie Jackson | 6.7 | 25.7 |
Westbrook’s completion at the rim is subpar, but he’s still shooting 58%. While for most shooting guards that percentage is 61%, a Westbrook layup isn’t a bad result for a possession.
Another thing in Westbrook’s favor is that, unlike the Lakers, the Clippers have a plethora of shooters who can surround Westbrook to make his job easier. The Lakers rank 27th in 3-point shooting accuracy, making just 31.3% of their shots. Cliipers was eleventh, with 36%.
What’s the deal with Westbrook?
If Westbrook could just put up good screens for the Clippers’ best offensive weapons, drive without mistakes and play solid defense, then it would be a nice lift for them. But there are reasons to be skeptical. The Lakers wanted him to play a similar role and couldn’t get him to commit.
Westbrook has a tendency to try to do too much. He’s become a miserable shooter, hitting just 32% of his mid-range attempts and 29% of his 3-pointers, according to Cleaning the Glass. He’ll get a few possessions every game, dribble straight at an opponent and do it badly. These bad decisions often happen in critical situations as well.
Additionally, Westbrook is unwilling to defend, despite the Lakers coaching staff’s efforts to change that aspect of his game. Will Westbrook help Kawhi Leonard and Paul George when he refused to help LeBron James? This will be something to watch out for.
If Westbrook isn’t willing to take on a more limited role, it could be very detrimental to the team. George and Leonard control the ball a lot for the Clippers and very effectively. George is playing at an All-NBA level when healthy this season. After a slow start, Leonard also looks like his usual self.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis were disgusted when Russell Westbrook led 102-101. There were 17 seconds left on the shot clock and 30 seconds left in the game. pic.twitter.com/GAa7zWAuRl
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) October 23, 2022
Westbrook averages less than a point per possession when he shoots, which in today’s hyper-efficient NBA is one of the worst numbers in the league for a shooter of his caliber. Also, his turnover rate is very high. The Clippers have a very easy way out if the concerns about Westbrook prove to be valid. They can just take him out of the rotation. First of all, buyout players are low risk.
As a last resort, Signing Westbrook makes sense as a low-risk, medium-reward move. The odds of it working may not be very high, but it will potentially be more impressive than anything else they could have signed on the market.
The Clippers also acquired Bones Hyland at the deadline, he can add some playmaking and a lot of shooting at shooting guard. While there will be a lot of buzz about the risks involved in this signing, the Clippers have plenty of fallback options if things go wrong.
The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of the NBA or its organizations.
