Why RUSSELL WESTBROOK Fits With Phoenix Suns, Devin Booker

Why RUSSELL WESTBROOK Fits With Phoenix Suns, Devin Booker

The first name that I wanted to highlight is quite the experience. He has a $3.5 million player option with the Denver Nuggets this offseason, but can be a free agent. It’s Russell Westbrook. 13.3 points per game, 4.6 rebounds per game, 6.1 assists per game, shooting 51.7% from two, 32.3% from deep, and averaging 1.3 steals per game. Obviously not in the prime of his career, Stephen, and obviously a player who if you look at the highlights and low lightss, there’s a lot. What are your overall thoughts on Russell Westbrook, the player in 2025? Even at his worst, he finds ways to have impact. And I think a lot of the impact that he has starts in a locker room in multiple respects. There’s a certain level of respect. He has reverence amongst the younger era of basketball players that came into the league after his MVP season with the Oklahoma City Thunder. And it’s because his day-to-day approach is unique and different from Kevin Durant, but it’s similar in characteristics because it’s the ways in which he shows up and the ways that he kind of helps to he’s an older player in basketball terms, but he has a reach to the younger players that hits different with leadership. And I think we’ve saw that in multiple instances u recently with him with his thing with the Clippers and even more so this past season with the Denver Nuggets. A lot of people said why in the world would you go get Russell Westbrook and then you see the numbers that he had when he was on the court with Nicole Jokic this past season in the regular season and then you see the boost that he provided in moments where Murray and Porter Jr. and Gordon weren’t showing up through the first round and some change. Yeah, we have a lot of mixed opinions in the chat and like I said, I knew it would be mixed. RTC says Westbrook would be hilariously bad. AZ Soldier 520 says yes. Russ brings heart and hustle. Omar Martinez or O Martinez says love the idea of Russ’s hustle on the squad. Nathan Cook said getting too old but would be pretty good. And Mario Not Bros 2 says Westbrook coaster coaster is not the one I’m ready to ride. We go from the roller coaster to the Westbrook coaster. And you mentioned one thing that when you look at Westbrook stats this last season in Denver, you wonder how much of a bump did he get from playing with a player like Nicole Joic who a lot of their strengths would cover up the weaknesses of Russell Westbrook. And you look at a player like Contavius Codwell Pope and the stats that he had playing alongside Nicole Joic and then what happened when he left. You wonder for Russell Westbrook going from a playmaking hub, maybe the best in the league, maybe one of the best of all time, not maybe, definitely one of the best of all time at playmaking, especially from the center position as a guard like Russell Westbrook to whoever the Suns are going to trot out at center, which even the best free agent options we’ve talked about, none of them are even going to be remotely close to a passing hub or someone you run your offense through. So you wonder just how good of a fit he would be on a Devin Booker le team and a Devin Booker centric offense and how much his stats might regress if he’s not playing in a system like Denver’s. Yeah, I I hear that part. But he still found ways to have impact with the Clippers the season before last and that was a completely different roster context. If you go from a heliocentric uh Jokic hub, Joic led offense to the one before the season uh this past season with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George and James Harden and Visa Zubach and Norman Pal. These are all names in terms of options that come way before his in terms of the scoring prowess and things like that. But he still found a way to have impact on that team as well. And I think Russ at this point in his career is a player that can just figure out how to have a role. Sometimes he’s playing a three for teams. Sometimes he’s playing the two. He’s not necessarily the traditional point guard, nor is he used as a defender that he once was either. Kind of finding ways to have more impact off the ball, being able to switch up and guard against bigger players in the post on mismatches and things like that. So, I’m not as low as other people are. I’m not high on it by any means, but I’m also not nearly as low as some of the comments and some of what you can uh assume general perception about Westbrook ad would be. I would actually be fine with a Westbrook edition if this was a team that I felt like was ready to actually compete next year and these were very selective spots. I’m not sure. Yeah, for sure. What my thoughts on Russell Westbrook would be. I guess I wouldn’t be a total negative because he still contributed in Denver and that worked out really well for him. But you talk about a team needing heart and hustle and determination and grit and somebody who shows up the same every single play. And that’s why the Russell Westbrook coaster is so up and down is because he only has one gear. He only has one mode. But it’s not even a mode that the Suns had last season. And he he like you mentioned is a different type of leader. And I think that he could impact the game in a lot of different ways. And one of the things that Russell Westbrook doesn’t get credit for is that he has molded his game to the modern NBA in the best way that he possibly can. And being able to grab the rebounds and pass the ball like he’s able to and he’s came up big in in moments in the playoffs when he’s been needed like he he has been a clutch player for them as well. I would be all for this. Now, why would he leave Denver? It’s a good question that Ryan asked in the chat. It’s basically like the perfect situation for him and he has a player option. What do you think would be a better situation? Do you think Phoenix would be better? I don’t know if I would say better, but there was some button of heads between him and David Adelman and Aaron Gordon. Okay. As they exited the playoffs by way of the now going to the finals Oklahoma City Thunder. So, I think if there was a reason why he would leave Denver to answer that question in particular, that could potentially be it. Especially as we get news that Denver is undoing their entire assistant coaching staff to obviously insulate David Adelman in particular. So, there’s a lot of change going on over there. Does David Adam see him as a piece for the roster that he’s trying to build? If not, then there’s opportunity there and everything that I just got done speaking to as far as what Russ would add would be a benefit. But the other thing we didn’t mention though, he can still get to the rim whenever he wants to. He’s an elite, and I mean elite cutter. He’s also a very good guard screener. He doesn’t isn’t necessarily going to pop like other guards like Grayson Allen would, but the short roll and being aggressive below the free throw line, he’s still great with putting pressure on the rim. And that’s the one complimentary skill that we said outside of three-point shooting we would love to see around Deon Booker.

The Phoenix Suns need to fill their point guard position this summer, should they turn to former MVP, and current Denver Nuggets guard, Russell Westbrook? Would Russ fit well with Devin Booker and the Suns? Stephen and Erik Break it down.

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