First, Paul Pierce, the good news: The Grading The Week kids are absolutely with you on that whole Lakers-should-trade-Dalton Knecht rant.
Heck, yeah. Get him outta there. No rookie deserves that circus, let alone a nice kid from Prairie View High.
But the part about Russell Westbrook?
Yeah, not so much.
On Friday morning, the former NBA and Kansas star got Team GTW’s eyebrows up on Fox Sports 1’s “Undisputed” when he suggested Big Russ — assuming the Jazz buy Westbrook out and the Nuggets snap him up — should slot immediately into Denver’s starting five.
“I kind of look at him (as) like a Jason Kidd role on Dallas,” Pierce said, referring to the 2011 title-winners. “I think you could put him in as a starter like you did Jason Kidd … I like him as a starter.”
Us?
Also … not so much.
The Russell Westbrook Era in Denver — A-minus.
Yes, Westbrook is a “name” addition to an elite, title-chasing roster led by a three-time MVP (Nikola Jokic) at the peak of his powers. It’s a win-now addition. But at the same time …
Russell Westbrook as a Nuggets starter — D.
… let’s not overthink this. For one, it’s 2024 Russ, not 2017.
For two, don’t ever press your luck with a rotational upgrade. We know they’re not the same guy, and bear with us, but as a like-for-like, Russell Westbrook projects as a pretty decent upgrade — as a backup point guard/fill-in over Reggie Jackson.
Per Basketball-Reference.com, the former NBA MVP is projected over 36 minutes a game to average 18.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.6 assists while hitting on 29.0% of his treys and averaging .058 Win Shares per 48 minutes. Jackson is projected by the site’s computers to average 16.3 points and 5.6 dimes per 36 minutes while draining treys at a 34.2% clip with .043 Win Shares per 48 minutes. In a Nuggets offseason that’s lacked sexy moments, you take whatever wins fall in your lap.
For three, don’t worry — Russ is going to start at some point. Why? Because Jamal Murray is going to get hurt. Or need rest. Or both. Again, don’t overthink this.
For four, who’s going to be your go-to offensive threat, your spark, in that second unit if Westbrook is in the starting five?
Christian Braun? Julian Strawther? Peyton Watson? Having Russ as an anchor off the bench makes that pecking order clear cut — and also provides leadership and a compliment/change-of-pace for a second five that’s already shaping up to be pretty young. And we already know how much coach Michael Malone trusts youth, don’t we?
For five, and this is back to pressing your luck again, but a guy who turns 36 in mid-November probably needs to be on a pitch count when it comes to minutes.
Here’s why: Last season, Beastbrook played 30 or more minutes nine times for the Clippers. Los Angeles went 4-5 in those games. In 11 starts, the Artists Formerly Known at Lob City went 4-7.
Westbrook off the bench put up a better total shooting percentage (51.6% to 50.8%), a better free-throw percentage (69.9% to 58.8%) and a better assist-to-turnover ratio (2.21 to 1.9) than he did as a starter.
Slotting Westbrook into an already proven “big four” — Jokic, Murray, Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. — that won a title without him feels like a bigger risk than elevating Braun or Watson, who already know the personnel.
And sure, moving the Blue Arrow off the ball with the starting unit is a noble concept for a guy who probably also needs a pitch count to keep his legs fresh for the postseason. But you think Murray, in (for now) a contract year, is going to want the ball out of his hands? Yeah, neither do we, Paul. Neither do we.
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