The Jazz have officially waived Russell Westbrook, the team announced in a press release. The 35-year-old point guard, who was acquired from the Clippers on Thursday, is expected to join the Nuggets after clearing waivers on Monday.
Westbrook was sent to Utah as part of a sign-and-trade involving free agent guard Kris Dunn, who reached an agreement with L.A. shortly after the start of free agency. The Jazz received a second-r0und pick swap and cash in the deal, which gave the Clippers the ability to remove Westbrook’s salary from their books while offering Dunn a higher salary than they otherwise could’ve.
This is the second time in 17 months that Westbrook has been traded to Utah and then released without playing a game. The Jazz also picked him up from the Lakers in a February 2023 deal before negotiating a buyout that enabled him to join the Clippers.
It’s not clear yet if there was a buyout involved this time or if Utah agreed to pay Westbrook his entire $4MM contract for the upcoming season. He’ll earn about $3.3MM with Denver, which is limited to offering him a veteran’s minimum contract due to apron restrictions.
Westbrook could have tested the free agent market this summer, but he opted to exercise his option and remain in L.A. The Clippers immediately began working with him to find a trade, and the Nuggets, who need a backup point guard after sending Reggie Jackson to Charlotte, quickly emerged as the most likely destination. Adding Westbrook as a free agent simplifies things for Denver, which doesn’t have to worry about matching salaries in a trade.
Westbrook, a nine-time All-Star and former MVP, settled into a bench role in his first full season with the Clippers. He appeared in 68 games and averaged 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.1 steals on .454/.273/.688 shooting in 22.5 minutes per night.
would be funny if someone claimed him to screw with nuggets
I was just thinking this. Nothing is stopping another team from making a claim, except maybe that Westbrook is a detriment to team ball.
Nothing, besides a team having the available cap space (4M) to make a claim.
NYK should claim him. IMO He’s better than Payne. I’m still not sure why Payne was brought in to play in NY. Burks, too, could have been brought back
76ers should claim him , they still need 3 players to fill out the roster , lol
Who wants to play for a team losing in the first round of the playoffs?
Philly only has minimum contracts to offer, until mid season. + we wouldn’t be interested either way lol
I’m doubt that. He’d retire before he’d go somewhere else.
(again)
Why did he opt in with Clippers knowing they didnt want him?? For $4m? What the heck was the logic??
Because Russ is a class act and because sometimes things can end aimaiably. Clipps gave him a home, committed to him, fanbase embraced him. It didn’t work out but he acted on a “professional courtesy”.
Will always be a Westbrook fan. Guy gave a 100% to the Clipps.
How does that make him a team player knowing they didn’t want him? He knew it was free money, that’s it
Guaranteed salary. He wasn’t gonna make more on the open market. He still gets paid even if waived and is free to sign where ever he wants now.
Smart financial move. Now he’ll make $7.3 million for the year. If he opted out and signed the minimum, he would only make $3.3 million. And if he opted in and played out the contact, he’d still make $700k more than the minimum.
Makes perfect sense. Clippers were doing the right thing for Westbrook because he signed for so little last yr. So in efrect, he played 1 yr for $7m last yr and Clippers basically made sure he got to go to the team he wanted which is Nuggets.
It could be true he’ll make 7.3 but I think how this “usually” works out, is that he’ll sacrifice the minimum salary that he’ll receive from Denver, to the Utah Jazz, so his total 2025 salary from the Nuggets plus the Jazz will equal that 4 million.
I say usually. And that’s what the Jazz will gain from this trade. They’ll pay that $700,000 or whatever is the difference between 4 million and the minimum in exchange for whatever they got in the trade for Kris Dunn.
Stop thinking so much about Westbrook, You’ll feel better.
To guarantee himself a $4M payday. He asked the Clippers to trade him with the intent of the team obtaining him then releasing him. He deserves a shot to win a ring.
Nuggets’ big offseason move. lol
They have no cap space and already have a strong team as is. They just needed a defensive minded pg.