Russell Westbrook is headed back to LA. This is after it was reported on Monday that the former league MVP has agreed to a deal with the Los Angeles Clippers after successfully securing a contract buyout with the Utah Jazz. This follows Russ' NBA trade deadline move from the Los Angeles Lakers, who finally decided to pull the plug on their failed Westbrook experiment.
Former Clippers stud-turned-ESPN analyst JJ Redick has now shared his two cents worth on the signing. For the most part, Redick is optimistic about Westbrook's return to LA, but he also believes that in terms of his situation with the team, JJ thinks that not much will change as compared to his stint with the Lakers:
“I'm not going to sit here and analyze, it's the same s**t,” Redick said on his podcast. “He's a guy when we've seen him succeed later in his career, it's when he's got the ball in his hands, and he's surrounded by shooting. And that's not going to be the case here.”
Do you agree with Redick's take here? As he points out, Westbrook is going to be playing alongside two superstars again with the Clippers in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, who both happen to be ball-dominant players. This was somewhat similar to Russ' situation with the Lakers wherein he shared the court with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Be that as it may, Redick remains confident that the Clippers made the right call here. He doesn't expect Russell Westbrook to bring back his MVP form, but JJ is adamant that the nine-time All-Star is going to make a significant impact on his new team:
“I think there's a way that he makes an impact, I don't know if it's him playing 30 or 35 minutes a night with Kawhi and PG at this point in his career,” Redick said. “Do I think he's going to make an impact? Yeah. I was actually having a conversation with somebody on Saturday. We were talking about him going to the Clippers. I could see him, especially come playoffs, winning a playoff game. Where he just comes in, he's a madman, he's running around, he's grabbing loose balls, getting rebounds, taking into transition, attacking the rim, 22 points, eight rebounds, six assists, in 24 minutes. They win a game. Turns the series around.”
Russell Westbrook gets a clean slate now that he has signed with the Clippers. Reports state that LA signed him with the intention of inserting him into the starting lineup somewhere down the road. As we've seen with his stint with the Lakers, this is a high-risk, high-reward type of move for the Clippers. It's now only a matter of time before we find out if this decision will pay dividends for them or not.
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