Apparently, the Washington Wizards asked Russell Westbrook about trading him to the LA Clippers this past offseason.
Westbrook had already told them he wanted to be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, or stay in Washington. When asked about the Clips, Westbrook responded with “Hell no.”
Wizards GM Tommy Shepard on trading Russell Westbrook to the Lakers
— Top Ball Coverage (@TopBallCoverage) September 29, 2021
“Russ actually never asked to move on. He just said, ‘If I can get to the Lakers, that’d be something I would love to do. If not, I’ll be back here.’ I said, ‘What about the Clippers?’ He said, ‘Hell no.’” pic.twitter.com/xRKkE2UtUn
People on Twitter, especially Lakers fans, are running with this.
Russell Westbrook wasn't trying to get traded to the Clippers. 😂https://t.co/EIFj1pi0eX pic.twitter.com/5LhhBu1kaJ
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) September 29, 2021
The reality, however, is that the Clippers would want nothing to do with him.
Russell Westbrook is likely still upset that Kawhi Leonard chose Paul George over him on the LA Clippers.
Kawhi Leonard already rejected Russell Westbrook when Westbrook wanted to play with him. We remember this offseason story, right?
He obviously is still a little upset about that.
The Clippers already wouldn’t want him for other reasons other than that too. The Clippers thrive on shooters, and Westbrook is not that at all, despite him thinking he is.
The problem with having Westbrook over here is that he shoots so much every game, and isn’t good at it. The Clippers had nine shooters over 40% from deep last year. They were the best shooting team in the NBA.
Westbrook, on the other hand, has shot 29.2% from three in the last four years. Even worse, he shoots so much. In that time frame, he shot 4.4 threes per game.
He’s not a good shooter, and shoots all the time. He’s the definition of inefficiency. Besides, how did he fit with Paul George in Oklahoma City?
He didn’t fit well with him, as even when George had a career season in 2018-2019, Westbrook’s inefficiency cost the team big time. Typical of Westbrook, he took 20.2 shots per game to George’s 21, despite being a point guard. George was everything that year, and Westbrook still tried to run the show.
Sure enough, the Thunder ended up dropping their first round series. The year before they lost in the first round as well. Why would the Clippers want to have Westbrook play with George, when Westbrook proved in the past that he doesn’t fit with him?
Also, it’s unclear why this is much of a story when Westbrook had obviously turned down 27 other teams along with the Clippers. Of course, Lakers fans are going to spin this as an anti-Clippers story.
The reality is that the Clippers wanted Russell Westbrook even less than Westbrook wanted the Clippers. Let’s also not forget that Westbrook was the one who wanted to join Kawhi here anyway, and was rightfully denied.
Remember, reports said that Leonard wanted Jimmy Butler if he couldn’t get PG over here. Westbrook wasn’t even Leonard’s second choice.