Featured Columnist IVJune 30, 2024
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The Denver Nuggets are reportedly planning to pursue Russell Westbrook after he picked up his contract with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Denver “has shown a level of interest” in the veteran guard, The Athletic and Stadium’s Shams Charania reported Saturday. The news came after Charania reported Los Angeles is “actively working on trades to move” Westbrook.
Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported Westbrook was a potential target for the $5.2 million taxpayer midlevel exception. The Nuggets are reportedly trying to unload backup center Zeke Nnaji to duck under the second tax apron and open up their MLE.
Westbrook decided to remain with the Clippers on a $4 million player option rather than test the open market. Law Murray and Jenna West of The Athletic reported the Clippers still could waive or trade Westbrook, depending on how their offseason shakes out.
Westbrook averaged 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists last season, spending most of the year playing a reserve role behind James Harden. The Clippers are allowing Harden to explore unrestricted free agency this summer but are widely expected—at least at this point—to bring him back.
Some wondered whether Westbrook might explore the open market in search of a more substantive role, but it’s likely he received tepid interest. The future Hall of Famer has played for five different teams in the last six seasons. If he returns to the Clippers next season, they will be the second most-tenured franchise of his career behind the Oklahoma City Thunder.
A Los Angeles native, Westbrook almost certainly valued the stability of being able to stay home—even if more money or a better role existed elsewhere.
Whether the Clippers ultimately value him the same remains to be seen. His $4 million salary is relative pittance in the modern NBA, but every cent counts as the Clippers attempt to work around the restrictive luxury tax rules of the new collective bargaining agreement.