Tony Jones of The Athletic believes it’s “very, very unlikely” that Russell Westbrook will ever play a game for the Jazz, noting that the veteran guard wouldn’t receive much playing time as the team prioritizes its younger players (Twitter links).
According to Jones, the two most likely scenarios for Westbrook are securing a buyout if he finds a situation he likes, or remaining on Utah’s roster but away from the team.
While that’s hardly surprising news, it’s still noteworthy that Westbrook might finish the season not actively playing. On the other hand, if he joins another team and things go awry, that could hurt his value ahead of free agency.
The 2016/17 MVP has made over $300MM in his career, so it’s not like he needs more money, but it’s a lot easier for a team to move on from a player who isn’t making much money than one who is. It’s a tricky balance to strike for a decorated player who was often criticized (sometimes unfairly) on his last team.
Here’s more from the Northwest:
- Thunder swingman Jalen Williams has flown under the radar a bit in ’22/23, but he’s having an outstanding rookie season, averaging 12.2 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 2.9 APG and 1.2 SPG on .508/.324/.759 shooting. He recently spoke to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype about a number of topics, sharing an amusing story about how he first met head coach Mark Daigneault.
- Bones Hyland was traded to the Clippers last week after a rocky end to his Nuggets tenure. The second-year guard explained that he had “great communication” with Denver’s front office, but not so much with the coaching staff. “Yeah, I feel like it could’ve been done better on both ends,” Hyland said, per Mike Singer of The Denver Post (subscriber link). “Just more communication. I’ve got so much love for Denver, but I just feel like the communication was just so low. I had a lot of mixed emotions, and we didn’t come together and just make it better.”
- Nuggets head coach Michael Malone suggested he’s going to run a five-man bench lineup of Reggie Jackson, Bruce Brown, Christian Braun, Vlatko Cancar and Thomas Bryant once Jackson is activated after the All-Star break, tweets Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports. A notable omission from that group is veteran forward Jeff Green, who has consistently been in the rotation when healthy and scored a season-high 24 points in Wednesday’s victory over Dallas. Malone has tweaked the bench rotation multiple times this season, however, so it wouldn’t be surprising if that five-man group changes over time.
Tony Jones is probably correct, but it would be in his best interest to stay and try to help them get into the playoffs. They’re in a similar situation to the Bulls and Wizards who have also been mentioned.
Actually the best thing for him if he can’t find a better situation at another team (as mentioned $$$ shouldn’t be an issue if he loses some) is for him to stay in LA enjoying the spring & relaxing without setting a foot in SLC!
Just enjoying life away from hoops for a few months to recharge the batteries for next season, no point going to UTA if he ain’t gonna be a big part of what they are doing.
Funny that the word rotation gets implied that it’s set in stone. Second.. how often do you hear coaching staff has lack of communication but front office doesn’t. Not unheard of but in the NBA isn’t it usually the opposite? Opinions on that anyone?
What value does Westbrook have that he could hurt? He’s getting a minimum contract next season if he gets anything
He was rightfully criticized for his play. The end.
Yeah right they all want more money and will get it. Meanwhile everyone else is putting their real hard work in
Westbrook to clippers.
Get it done as soon as possible.
Playing Cancar over Jeff Green should surprise absolutely NO ONE.
Cancar is 25 and hits his threes at a 42% clip. Jeff Green is 36 and well he just doesn’t. lol