Veteran point guard Russell Westbrook remains an unrestricted free agent after he declined his $3.47MM player option with the Nuggets in June. Throughout the offseason, Westbrook has been repeatedly linked to the Kings, and ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Friday that the two sides continue to have “strong mutual interest” (Twitter video link).
“I’m told there is strong mutual interest between Russell Westbrook and the Sacramento Kings,” Charania said (hat tip to Kurt Helin of NBC Sports). “And the Kings have a need for a reserve point guard. They were 29th in bench points, 29th in bench assists last season. Russell Westbrook helps with that, and he’s got relationships across that organization.
“Domantas Sabonis, he’s close with, played with him. He played with Dennis Schröder as well. DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, they have L.A. ties as well. BJ Armstrong, the new assistant general manager there. He knows BJ Armstrong from the agency side, and he does have respect with Scott Perry, their new general manager, and Doug Christie, their new head coach.
“We’ll see if a deal gets done before the start of the season or during this upcoming year.”
Carmichael Dave of SactownSports.com (Twitter link) posits that there’s about a 70 percent chance that Westbrook will sign with Sacramento at some point, assuming the two sides can figure out the financials.
The plugged-in radio host also hears Westbrook has a lucrative contract offer on the table to play in China, but the former NBA MVP likely wouldn’t go that route until after the All-Star game, which is in his hometown of Los Angeles.
The Kings currently only have 13 players on guaranteed standard contracts, plus Keon Ellis on a non-guaranteed deal and Terence Davis on a training camp pact.
Westbrook, 36, played a significant role for the Nuggets after signing with Denver as a free agent during the 2024 offseason. He averaged 13.3 points, 6.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.4 steals in 27.9 minutes per game across 75 appearances (36 starts) during the regular season, with a .449/.323/.661 shooting line. He also contributed 11.7 PPG, 2.6 APG, and 3.7 RPG in 13 playoff contests (24.1 MPG).
That would be a great pick up for the kings. Push the ball, hit the wings and clean up the trail
No it’s not. Y’all like Westbrook because of how he played 7 year’s ago. Think about the Kings. They are the worst ran franchise in the NBA and bottom 5 in all 5 major sports. Your going to pair Westbrook with Levine and DeRozan? That’s a crazy line up. Levine is a 3 option getting paid like a franchise player. DeRozan is a bench player at this point in his career. And Westbrook doesn’t finish at the rim as well and can’t shoot and wants to still be the man.
On top of that the Kings are seen Levine and DeRozan on the bulls and it didn’t work and they still traded and signed one. What dumpster fire.
No, I like Westbrook because he pushes the ball. Lavine and Derozan worked very well on the bulls when they had Lonzo pushing the ball in the open court, in fact they were one of the best teams in the league before Lonzo went down.
This why people should have to actually learn the game of basketball instead of just reading boxscores
You say you should learn the game of basketball with out looking at box scores yet you came with no analysis of the game and basically just said don’t look at the box scores. They played well with Lonzo ball.
So let’s talk basketball. The bull were trash. What sets did the run? You watch basketball right. In fact Kobe white Lonzo ball and DeMar DeRozan didn’t play well at all together. Just like last year. Demar DeRozan doesn’t run up and down the court so that’s how I know you don’t actually watch. He’s actually one of the slowest pace basketball players we’ve had in the last 10 years. Zach LaVine on the other hand, plays at the elbow extended to the three-point line where he works. Him and DeRozan play on opposite ends of the court. Never running hand off actions or two-man actions because their games don’t compliment each other. Kobe wright plays off the ball a little bit better than the both of them do, but when he had the ball he stuck to pick and rolls. Therefore, leaving Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan clueless on offense. How does that translate to the kings because that will be you next insult instead of just saying your wrong and admitting I actually watch basketball.
The kings have a team built just like the bulls where they did get out and run with Fox because News flash. He’s faster than Westbrook at this point of his career and pushes the ball way more. Guess what? It didn’t translate into wins because DeMar DeRozan didn’t run. He played a half court game. And Zach LaVine wants the ball in his hands when he pushes the ball. Sobonis is more of a four than a fives cuz he doesn’t rebound well and that’s exactly how vucechue (spelled his name wrong) played. Pick and pop and not a physical presence inside.
So now let’s bring it back to my original post since you wanted to act like I didn’t know how to talk basketball and we’re talking about Westbrook. The reason why Westbrook is not an NBA player anymore is because Westbrook is a third string guard at this point in his career and when you are a third string veteran gar you need to be a player coach and he doesn’t want to be a player coach. He wants to star in his role when he’s no longer able to get to the rim like he used to because he lost his athleticism because father time caught up to him. Nothing Wrong with not wanting to be a player coach But that means your NBA career has came to an end. The only teams that will pick up Westbrook at this point are teams that are out of playoff race and using him to sell tickets. Therefore equaling more losses which will be more ping pong balls.
If you would like to come back with actual stats and statistics instead of you didn’t watch the bulls play and Lonzo ball pushed the ball which he didn’t because he was hurt most of the time he was the bulls and when he did play it didn’t translate to wins cuz that’s not Levine and DeMar DeRozans game. I’m all ears
Talk text not fixing the grammatical errors
I was with you until you said Sabas doesn’t grab boards very well lol
But kidding around aside, most of the points you made were good ones…Demar & Zach play too slow tempo, and hold the ball too much for this offense ever to be top 10 in pace. Have to move one of them at least, and Perry should’ve known this. Attach a first and get the best bigger wing/defensive player you can for him.
I would be ok if the Kings signed him to be 3rd PG on a cheap deal, could be useful if DS or Monk get hurt. It would be good if he could accept a Vince type role as a player coach and be the 11th man.
Just not down for him to be in the 10 man, and be the main backup point. Those days are gone, and his turnovers, defense and bad shooting percentages would hurt more than his positives help.
I think he is a decent rebounder, But physically you can’t compete with centers So he’s often out of position late in the games. But I agree with you. Maybe the term not a great rebounder was the wrong word to use
They were 19-10, second best record in the East when Lonzo went down. That’s pretty good
At the least, he’d add some competitive fire to a team badly in need of it.
Arrow down for last year’s lottery pick, Devin Carter. He’d be the third-string PG.
4th Elis is combo guard, can play pg, in fact they played best last season with him in lineup
Sorry, I didnt understand, did you imply he would be behind Devin Carter in the depth chart?
Schroder
Westbrook
Ellis
Carter
is what he’s implying
yes
Interesting, I dont see Devin Carter being that good but tbh I havent paid that much attention to him.
Wouldn’t they still be trying to trade Carter since they were trying to in order to make room for Russ?
I wish the Heat would sign him.
Westbrook is a heck of an athlete. Hard to imagine he is considering playing in China even with big money in play💰
Stick a fork in this bum
At this point, I think Russ is interested in any team lol
I wonder how much he gets. IMO, an upgrade over Shamet or Brogdon. I guess he didn’t want to come to New York
I love the Knicks
I like Westbrook
I do not want Westbrook on this Knicks team.
Haha I’m with you on that for sure!!
Rockets should be doing all they can to sign Westbrook. He can help hold it down. Till Rockets are able to make a trade (Dec 15). Then he just adds to their depth.
Westbrook fits the Kings. He and Schroder make a good combo at PG.
No it wouldn’t work AL. The rockets are not as good as people think. Kd is not able to carry this team. Westbrook is not a point guard more of a comb and only effective with the ball in his hand and he lost some of his athleticism so he’s not able to finish out the rim as well. His shooting means team will double, As much as I like the twin, he’s still working on his jump shot as well. That leaves sagoun who they will double and Force Westbrook to shoot. I just don’t think the rocket got that better even with KD. They are behind OCK, Den, Min, Dallas and the clippers. That’s 5 teams. The 6th spot is between Houston and GS/ Lakers and San Antonio.
Mark my words. I actually have San Antonio in the top four because they’re young. They’re deep and I think they will survive the grind of the NBA regular seasons. Now I think they will lose in the first round as a 4/5 seed
We’re indo Believe in idoka as a coach they are one more injury away from play in and a first exit against OKC/Denver.
@Al
were do you have the rockets. Do you think they can finish top 6. Also we’re do you have san Antonio in Dallas. My gut says Dallas is a contender but I’m not 100% sure. I like the defense but I need to see how Kyrie Irving returns. They do look really good in the preseason and I’m big on Flagg now. Ace Bally looks good to but that another post we can discuss.
Russ is fun to watch due to the high effort he plays with. If he was on the Kings they would play fast but not going to stop many opponents. He would have to play with some form of Lavine and Monk. I don’t think Demar will run every time.
Do it
Westbrook would be an acceptable 2nd unit pg in theory.
In reality, he is a name and teams would play him too much.
SAC might be the very worst team he is a fit for. Pair him with players who are off ball shooters and floor runners.