I was thinking what the most optimistic scenario for the nuggets could be with this Westbrook signing. And how even if he reverted all the way back to his prime, it still wouldn’t be a good fit.
Russ at his best needs the ball a lot. His lack of shooting and lack of off ball activity means he doesn’t add much on offense.
Giving him the ball a lot means taking it out of jokic’s hands and Jamal Murray’s hands. And because of Russ and his non-shooting ability, it also means you probably can’t play Aaron Gordon at the same time with him either.
Prime Russ brought a team who had no shooting and whose second option was Enes Kanter Freedom to the playoffs.
Imagine what he could do if he played with one of the greatest offensive players of all time in addition to tonnes of competent high-level rotation players.
He did that once. That team went to the conference finals and lost to the 73 win warriors in SEVEN games.