Basketball
Former NBA MVP and UCLA Bruins basketball legend Russell Westbrook lost another potential suitor Thursday after Damian Lillard agreed to a contract to return to the Portland Trail Blazers,
His options were already limited before, but now it seems like it could come down to just a handful of teams that are in need of a backup veteran point guard. And even then, their fits are a bit shaky.
Westbrook was closely linked to the Sacramento Kings before they signed Dennis Schroder and the New York Knicks until they went after Jordan Clarkson. Two teams remain as the only logical fits for the former Bruin — the Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat.
The Pistons need to replace Schroder, who was a solid veteran point guard off the bench behind Cade Cunningham. Westbrook fits with their identity quite well. The Heat, on the other hand, is also a reported possible landing spot, needing someone to pair with Davion Mitchell in the second unit backcourt.
Whatever Westbrook was looking for when he opted out of the Denver Nuggets is surely gone now.
In hindsight, maybe the former Bruin would have opted into his contract with the Nuggets and tried to facilitate a trade if the franchise didn’t want to keep him. Now, it’s looking like he’ll have to settle for a minimum contract, which is far from the type of contract you’d expect he’d get after the season he had.
The 17-year veteran was an integral part of Denver’s second unit over the course of the season. Westbrook was often the source of an otherwise absent energy off the bench and in the non-Nikola Jokic minutes.
Westbrook, a nine-time All-Star, two-time scoring champ, 2017 MVP and all-time triple-doubles leader, has played for the Thunder, Rockets, Wizards, Lakers and Clippers along with Denver.
Should he sign with a new team this offseason, he will have been on seven different teams over the last eight seasons of his career.
Westbrook spent two season with UCLA, playing in 75 games and averaging 8.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steals per game over his Bruins career.
In the 2007-08 season, he started 34 games and earned Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year honors and was named to the All-Pac-10 Conference’s third team.
The Bruins advanced to the Finals Four in the 2008 NCAA Tournament, inevitably losing to Memphis. Westbrook helped UCLA win the Pac-10 tournament and regular season titles while averaging 12.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.
Westbrook was drafted fourth overall by the Seattle Supersonics in the 2008 NBA Draft less than a week before the franchise moved to Oklahoma City to become the Thunder.
He is arguably the franchise’s most iconic player in history and will undoubtedly be a first-ballot hall of famer.
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