Russell Westbrook Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Heat Notes: Love, Adebayo, Westbrook, Yurtseven, O. Robinson

February 18th, 2023 at 7:32pm CST by Arthur Hill

Heat players are excited about the prospect of adding Kevin Love to their current roster, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Miami is considered to be the frontrunner to sign the veteran big man once he clears waivers, with a source telling Chiang that Love is intrigued by the possibility of regular playing time and the chance to team up with veteran stars Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler.

Adebayo and Tyler Herro both received questions about Love on Saturday during All-Star Weekend media sessions. In addition to the talent upgrade, they pointed out that Love would bring plenty of postseason experience.

“Anytime we can get somebody the caliber of Kevin Love, he’s played in so many big games, so many big playoff runs and he’s experienced,” Herro said. “He’s been there before. Getting a guy like that, we’ve seen what we can do if we add veteran players like that midway through the season. Usually that leads to good runs and long playoff runs for us as a team.”

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Adebayo is in the second season of a five-year extension, and team president Pat Riley hopes to keep in him Miami long after that contract expires, Chiang notes in a separate story. Riley sees the 25-year-old center as a franchise cornerstone and a candidate to spend his entire career with the Heat. “It’s been a blessing to have him,” Riley said. “I go back to (Alonzo Mourning) and ‘Zo was a franchise face and then Dwyane (Wade) along with Udonis (Haslem), and now I look at Bam the same way because of longevity. I see Bam here, I hope, for his whole career.”
Miami is considered a potential destination for Russell Westbrook if he pursues a buyout with the Jazz, but the feedback Heat officials have gotten while investigating Westbrook has been “mixed” at best, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Jackson hears that the team expects Kyle Lowry to be productive once he returns from his knee issues, so adding a big man is a greater priority than finding a point guard.
The Heat are facing a decision between Omer Yurtseven and Orlando Robinson, not only for backup center minutes for the rest of the season, but probably in offseason contract talks as well, per Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. Yurtseven, who is still awaiting his season debut after undergoing ankle surgery in November, has an expiring contract and can be made a restricted free agent with a $2.2MM qualifying offer. Robinson can only be active for four more games on his two-way contract and would have to be converted to a standard deal to play beyond that.

Clippers Notes: Kawhi, Westbrook, PG, Powell

February 18th, 2023 at 1:44pm CST by Rory Maher

After entering the season with championship expectations, the Clippers have to be disappointed with their 33-28 record to this point. They are just 21st in the league in offensive rating and 10th in defensive rating, good for a middling plus-0.3 net rating, which ranks 16th in the NBA.

While those numbers look troubling, it somewhat obscures the fact that Kawhi Leonard has returned to his dominant two-way form over the past several weeks. As Michael Pina of The Ringer details, the Clippers are 23-11 with Leonard in the lineup and boast the league’s the league’s best offensive rating and fourth-best defensive rating when he’s on the court.

Leonard, who missed all of 2021/22 with a torn ACL, is averaging 27.6 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.9 SPG and 0.8 BPG on .515/.465/.922 shooting over his past 17 games (36.5 MPG). Teammates and coaches have noticed the difference, Pina writes.

“He’s back to his normal self. I think the minutes is back to where he’s comfortable on the floor,” Paul George said. “No restrictions on him. So I think, you know, his flow, his timing, I think his touch, I think everything kind of just came back to normal for him, and he’s looking like the Kawhi when we first got here, pre-injury. He looks back to that level, and some.”

The two-time Finals MVP’s health will ultimately determine the Clippers’ ceiling, and he has missed 27 games for various reasons and still isn’t playing back-to-backs. Still, if he’s in the lineup, the Clippers are a fearsome opponent, Pina notes.

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George and Marcus Morris have publicly campaigned for the team to add Russell Westbrook via the buyout market, and George said Leonard likes the idea as well. Westbrook plans to meet with the Clippers’ two star forwards soon to discuss the possibility of teaming up, according to Law Murray of The Athletic.
While George advocated for adding Westbrook, he also likes the team’s trade deadline moves (they acquired Eric Gordon, Mason Plumlee and Bones Hyland) and thinks the Clippers have all the necessary pieces in place, Murray adds. “We got everything we need,” George said. “We got play-making, we got scorers. We got defensive stoppers. We just had to bring that all together, and find an identity as a group that carry us throughout games. Because again, it’s going to be a long — we plan on having a long postseason. So we got to have an identity that carries us through that long stretch.”
Reserve guard Norman Powell missed Thursday’s game against Phoenix due to right knee soreness, but Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times says (via Twitter) his “prevailing sense” is that there’s minimal concern about the injury and he was likely just held out to give him extra rest heading into the All-Star break. Powell is the team’s third-leading scorer, averaging 17.0 PPG on .486/.417/.805 shooting through 50 games (25.8 MPG).

Northwest Notes: Westbrook, Williams, Hyland, Nuggets Bench

February 17th, 2023 at 10:19pm CST by Rory Maher

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.

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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.

Bulls Notes: Inconsistency, LaVine, Westbrook, Terry, Caruso

February 17th, 2023 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bulls will have some time to reflect on what has gone wrong so far this season during the next week, as they enter the All-Star break on a six-game losing streak that dropped their record on the season to 26-33.

Making the playoffs is still the goal for the team, according to Zach LaVine, who said after Thursday’s loss to Milwaukee that the Bulls “have to stop beating ourselves” and need to establish some consistency the rest of the way, writes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.

“Something isn’t working, obviously,” LaVine said. “Some games we’re really good. Some games we’re bad. Once again, it’s that consistency factor of figuring out what our identity is and what we’re going to be each game.

“Even if guys are in and out of the lineup, you see some teams that have consistency with what they do. They have an identity. That’s something we’re still trying to figure out in these last couple years. We changed our offense a little bit this year from last year. But it’s no excuse with the type of talent that we have on the team.”

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LaVine hasn’t gone out of his way to recruit Russell Westbrook – like Clippers forward Paul George did – but when he was asked this week about Westbrook joining the Bulls, LaVine said he’d welcome the opportunity to team up with the former MVP, per Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. “Russ is a future Hall of Famer, man,” LaVine said. “I think you can only respect what he’s done in this league. If he so happens to come on the team, we welcome him with open arms. If he’s not, you compete against him. He’s a fierce competitor. You can do nothing but respect that.”
With five players, including star forward DeMar DeRozan, out due to injuries this week, rookie wing Dalen Terry logged 15 minutes on Wednesday and 27 minutes on Thursday — those were the first two times this season that he has played more than 10 minutes in a game. However, it’s unclear whether Terry will stick in Chicago’s rotation once DeRozan and others are back. “I’ve got to see what we look like health-wise,” Donovan said, according to K.C. Johnson. “With our roster, somebody is going to have to sit. I’m not saying that Dalen is the one who is going to be sitting. But somebody is going to have to.”
Although team success is Alex Caruso‘s top priority, he admitted to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype that it would be “really cool” to earn an All-Defensive nod. “I was a big fan of Kevin Garnett, the Pistons teams with Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace, and guys like Tony Allen, and other guys that people don’t maybe remember as well like Bruce Bowen and Raja Bell,” Caruso said. “Watching a bunch of people play over the years, I could tell there was an impact to be had on that side of the ball and something that came naturally to me.”

Clippers Talking To Russell Westbrook

February 16th, 2023 at 10:32am CST by Arthur Hill

The Clippers have begun talks with Russell Westbrook after being granted permission by the Jazz, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

L.A. has been prominently mentioned as a possible destination for Westbrook if he agrees to a buyout with Utah. He’s established in the city after playing the past year and a half with the Lakers, and the Clippers are in need of point guard help after failing to upgrade that position at the trade deadline.

Paul George and Marcus Morris both publicly endorsed the idea of adding Westbrook to the team last week.

Westbrook appears to have several options if he accepts a buyout, with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski mentioning the Wizards as being interested during Wednesday night’s NBA Countdown. Westbrook helped Washington secure a playoff berth in his lone season with the team before being traded to the Lakers.

The Bulls, with Westbrook’s former Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan, and the Heat, who also need backcourt help, are believed to be other leading contenders to sign the 34-year-old guard.

Westbrook was sent to the Jazz as part of a three-way trade at last week’s deadline following a tumultuous stay with the Lakers. He adapted to a bench role this season, but still struggled with his shot, connecting at 41.7% from the field and 29.6% from three-point range.

Russell Westbrook Interested In Returning To Wizards?

February 15th, 2023 at 7:40pm CST by Rory Maher

After being traded from the Lakers last week, former league MVP Russell Westbrook is currently away from the Jazz as he explores his options on the buyout market. Utah has granted Westbrook permission to speak with teams that might be interested in his services, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN said on NBA Countdown (YouTube link).

While the Bulls, Clippers and Heat have previously been mentioned as possibilities, Wojnarowski reports that Westbrook has also spoken to the Wizards.

Westbrook helped lead the Wizards to the playoffs a couple years ago prior to getting traded to Los Angeles. In 65 games (36.4 MPG) with the Wizards in 2020/21, he averaged a triple-double, posting 22.2 PPG, 11.5 RPG, 11.7 APG and 1.4 SPG on .439/.315/.656 shooting splits.

He only spent one season in Washington D.C., but Westbrook is familiar with several players on the Wizards’ roster and shares an agent (Jeff Schwartz) with Kristaps Porzingis.

As Woj explains, Westbrook and his potential suitors have been trying to figure out “what a potential fit might look like, what a role might look.” There’s also a chance that Westbrook could opt to sit out the rest of the season and enter unrestricted free agency this summer, according to Wojnarowski.

In 52 games (28.7 MPG) with the Lakers in ’22/23, all but three as a reserve, Westbrook averaged 15.9 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 7.5 APG and 1.0 SPG on .417/.296/.655 shooting.

Bulls Notes: DeRozan, Westbrook, Beverley, Wall, Vucevic

February 15th, 2023 at 2:47pm CST by Luke Adams

After revealing on Monday night that he has been dealing with discomfort in his right hip and leg for a significant portion of the season, Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan underwent an MRI on Tuesday and was diagnosed with a Grade 1 thigh strain, writes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.

DeRozan will miss Wednesday’s game in Indiana, but the team hasn’t ruled him out for Thursday vs. Milwaukee and he said he still intends to take part in All-Star festivities this weekend, according to Johnson.

“I don’t think it’s significant. But we’ll see how he progresses and how he feels,” head coach Billy Donovan said. “He knows his body well. He’s always very conscientious about taking care of it. We hope with treatment and how diligent he is, he’ll progress. But there’s enough discomfort there for him where he’s having a hard time moving and cutting and jumping.”

DeRozan said on Monday that he wasn’t sure when he originally suffered the injury, but that it cropped up about “10 games” before the January 9 contest vs. Boston, which he exited due to a right quad strain, per Jamal Collier of ESPN.

“When I’m sitting doing nothing, I don’t feel anything,” DeRozan said. “It’s just when I do anything to work that muscle in my leg, it’s just a lot of discomfort. So just trying to figure that out, get that situated the best I can.”

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According to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report on his #thisleague UNCUT podcast, Donovan has conveyed to Russell Westbrook that Chicago would be the best place for him if he negotiates a buyout with Utah (hat tip to FOX Sports Radio). Asked about the possibility of Westbrook becoming a Bull, Donovan couldn’t speak openly about the possibility due to tampering rules, but expressed respect for the former MVP, whom Donovan coached in Oklahoma City (link via NBC Sports Chicago). “Like I’ve said before, you go into a locker room before a game and you’re not worried about whether or not he’s ready to play,” Donovan said. “Every game.”
K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago describes the Bulls’ reported interest in Westbrook as “legitimate” and says the team has also had conversations with Patrick Beverley‘s camp. John Wall is another possible point guard target to monitor, Johnson adds.
In a Q&A with Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Nikola Vucevic spoke about his contract situation, the Bulls’ struggles this season, and his career goals going forward. Regarding his next contract, Vucevic – who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer – said that money, the comfort of his family, and an ability to contend will be the three primary considerations that factor into his decision.

Central Notes: Crowder, Portis, Dragic, Westbrook, Wiseman

February 13th, 2023 at 7:27pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Newly acquired forward Jae Crowder participated in practice with the Bucks on Monday but he won’t suit up prior to the All-Star break, coach Mike Budenholzer told The Athletic’s Eric Nehm (Twitter links).

“He’s going to have a good few days with us before the All-Star break, then take a few days and come back and just evaluate him over the next five, seven, ten days…and hopefully get him integrated and playing after the break,” the Bucks coach said.

Crowder hasn’t played at all this year, as he sat out awaiting a trade. The Bucks acquired him in a three-team deal.

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Bobby Portis was able to go through a portion of the Bucks’ practice, Nehm adds in another tweet. “We had a play group at the end of practice and he participated in that, so we’ll see how he feels (Tuesday),” Budenholzer said. “It’s another good step for Bobby.” Portis has been sidelined since Jan. 23 due to a knee injury.
Goran Dragic doesn’t feel insulted that the Bulls may be in the buyout market for another point guard, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. Dragic knows he can’t play heavy minutes at this stage of his career. “No, it doesn’t offend me, it doesn’t,’’ Dragic said. “At the end of the day you want to win. I’ve got limited minutes so it’s what can I do in those minutes? I know the plus/minus is good, and I know what I can do. Sometimes I feel more involved, sometimes no. But you know, I do think the starting unit needs a point guard, that’s for sure.”
On that same topic, The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry weighs the pros and cons of adding Russell Westbrook, if the veteran point guard chooses to take a buyout from the Jazz. Mayberry writes that it would be a desperation move, but one the Bulls might need to make.
Now that James Wiseman has officially been traded to the Pistons, can he blossom on a rebuilding team? The Athletic’s James Edwards III and Anthony Slater explore that topic. Slater, who covers Golden State, believes Wiseman will eventually be a productive NBA center offensively but it’s uncertain whether he’ll ever shore up the defensive flaws that kept him out of the Warriors’ rotation.

Los Angeles Notes: Hyland, Gordon, Westbrook, James

February 13th, 2023 at 5:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Bones Hyland believes he’s the answer at the point for the Clippers, ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk writes. The Nuggets dealt the disgruntled young guard, who fell out of their rotation, and Hyland is thrilled with opportunity.

“For me, I feel like I never had that opportunity to showcase my playmaking ability and be able to play that point guard role a lot and show that I’m just more than just a scorer,” he said. “I’m actually a point guard, you know? And I offer that at a high level and if you put me in that position, I’m going to thrive in that position as well.”

Hyland was routed to the Clippers as part of a four-team deal. He’ll battle current starter Terance Mann for minutes.

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In the same press conference, the Clippers also introduced two veterans they added before the trade deadline, guard Eric Gordon and center Mason Plumlee. Gordon believes he can take some of the scoring load off Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, Youngmisuk relays in the same story. “I can space the floor for them. And I can create my own shot,” Gordon said. “And I see that they switch a lot on defense. I’ve been doing that the past seven, eight years. And I guard bigs, too. You got to have a two-way mindset playing offense and defense. And I think I’m able to bring that.”
While Hyland fortifies the point guard spot, George reiterated that he wouldn’t mind if his former Oklahoma City teammate, Russell Westbrook, chose to take a buyout from the Jazz and join the Clippers, according to Janis Carr of the Orange County Register. “I’m a big believer in him and a fan of what Russ’ work is, having had one of my best seasons in my career alongside of him,” George said. “I’ve seen what he can do, night in, night out and I think he’s still got a lot of game there.”
LeBron James hasn’t played since breaking the league’s scoring record on Tuesday. The Lakers superstar will miss his third consecutive game on Monday due to left ankle soreness, Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets. He was spotted icing his feet after the team’s shootaround in Portland, Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register tweets. The Lakers have one more game — at home vs. New Orleans — before the All-Star break.
Speaking of Westbrook, Goon takes a deep dive on the veteran guard’s two-season stint with the Lakers.

Heat Notes: Yurtseven, Lowry, O. Robinson, Ibaka

February 13th, 2023 at 10:52am CST by Arthur Hill

The Heat’s approach to the buyout market may depend on the prognosis for Omer Yurtseven and Kyle Lowry, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Miami will have two roster openings when Jamaree Bouyea‘s two-way contract expires and will have to fill at least one of them within two weeks of that date.

Yurtseven is recovering after undergoing left ankle surgery in November and is expected to make his season debut shortly after the All-Star break. He appeared in 56 games as a rookie last season and might be entrusted with the backup center minutes. If the Heat are confident in Yurtseven, they may not look to add a free agent big man.

Chiang notes that the team’s level of confidence in Yurtseven could also affect Orlando Robinson, who has been the reserve center for the past month but can only be on the active roster for six more games on his two-way contract. Miami could fill one of its roster spots by converting Robinson to a standard deal, which would make him eligible for the playoffs, but the need to do that is lessened if Yurtseven takes over as the backup center.

Lowry, who’s dealing with soreness in his left knee, is expected to miss the rest of February and maybe more time beyond that, according to Chiang. The Heat are rumored to be a potential suitor for Russell Westbrook if he reaches a buyout with Utah, and Lowry’s health could affect how they proceed.

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There may be mutual interest with Serge Ibaka, who was waived by the Pacers over the weekend, Chiang adds. The 33-year-old only played 16 games for the Bucks before being traded, but he could provide shot blocking and outside shooting, along with a wealth of playoff experience.
Chiang points out that Miami can be competitive on the buyout market following last week’s trade of Dewayne Dedmon. The Heat are now almost $5MM under the threshold, allowing them to use their $4.1MM bi-annual exception or the roughly $3.2MM left on their mid-level exception without facing tax penalties.
Lowry’s injury may open the door to making him a bench player once he returns, suggests Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. Even when healthy, Lowry hasn’t been up to his usual standards this season, averaging just 12.0 PPG while shooting 39.6% from the field and 33.3% from three-point range. Gabe Vincent has been starting at point guard while Lowry is sidelined, and a buyout addition could take over that job for the rest of the season.