Nine-time NBA All-Star Russell Westbrook has agreed to join 2023 NBA champions, the Denver Nuggets, following the completion of his buyout by the Utah Jazz, the franchise announced on Friday.
Westbrook, who spent the part of the 2022–23 season and the whole of the 2023–24 campaign with the Los Angeles Clippers, is reportedly signing a two-year contract worth $6.8 million with the Nuggets and has a player option in the second year.
Having initially opted in to a player option for the 2024-25 season worth just over $4 million, the 35-year-old was originally part of a sign-and-trade deal between the Clippers and the Jazz, which saw Kris Dunn head to Los Angeles on a three-year $17 million deal, while Westbrook and a second-round pick swap and cash were sent to Utah.
It’s official: Russ is a Denver Nugget 🤝 pic.twitter.com/lx276iZISu
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) July 26, 2024
Westbrook, who owns the record for the most triple doubles in NBA history (199), spent the last three seasons in Los Angeles, his hometown, playing for both the Lakers and the Clippers following one-year stints at both the Houston Rockets and Washington Wizards, respectively.
He played 68 times for the Clippers last season but started just 11 games, ending the season with averages of 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.1 steals in 22.5 minutes per game, while shooting 45.4% from the field.
The 15-year NBA veteran, who was voted the league’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2017, heads to Denver with an impressive resume that consists of 10 All-NBA team selections, two All-Star Game MVPs, two scoring titles, as well as being the league’s assist leader three times and being named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.
The former Oklahoma City Thunder guard has played 1162 career games, and he boasts averages of 21.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 8.1 assists, and 1.6 steals in 33.6 minutes per game.
With the Nuggets without two-time NBA champion and one of the best two-way players in the league, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who has signed with the Orlando Magic, as well as Reggie Jackson, who gave them solid minutes off the bench, the Mike Malone-led side needed leadership, experience, and an All-Star calibre floor general, and that is what Westbrook will bring to the team.
His postseason experience will also be vital to the Nuggets, who were undone by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference semifinals last season as he has been to four Western Conference Finals and has reached the NBA Finals once.
