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The Golden State Warriors lost Klay Thompson in a sign-and-trade that sent him to the Dallas Mavericks. They added Buddy Hield and others in the hope of replacing him, but they might not be done making moves just yet.
Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report proposed a trade that’d land them a Hall of Famer after losing one, sending Moses Moody to the Los Angeles Clippers for Russell Westbrook.
Warriors would get: Westbrook
Clippers would get: Moody
“If L.A. is as ready to move on as it seems, then flipping Westbrook for a three-and-D wing like Moody would make plenty of sense.
“Minutes have proved surprisingly hard to come by for Moody in Golden State, but that hasn’t been performance-related,” Buckley wrote on July 10. “He’s been an above-average shooter from three (career 36.2 percent) and just turned his defensive box plus/minus into a positive.”
Westbrook Is Willing to Come off the Bench
At this point in his career, Westbrook would likely come off the bench. In the 2023-24 season, he started in just 11 of the 68 games he appeared in. In 2022-23, he started in 24 of the 73 he played.
With the Golden State Warriors, the expectation would be for him to come off the bench and run the second unit, as Stephen Curry will fill the point guard role.
According to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN, Westbrook said in March that he’d be willing to play off the bench and do whatever he needs to do to help a team win.
“I will do whatever the team needs me to do,” Westbrook said. “My play, I’m always confident in wherever I go. If I’m here [with the Clippers], if I’m [with another team], it doesn’t really matter. I’ll do whatever the team is asking me to do and I’ll compete to do what needs to be done. My confidence doesn’t change. I’ve always been a team-first guy… Whatever’s asked of me, I’ll do it.
“I’m extremely confident in my abilities to be able to do and play at the highest level, still be elite [at] a lot of things in the league and come off the bench or starting, it don’t matter.”
Westbrook buying into that role could interest the Warriors due to his veteran leadership.
Westbrook’s Fit With the Warriors
The idea of adding Westbrook would be an interesting one given where he’s at in his career. Still a serviceable player, he averaged 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.1 steals per game last year.
However, with the Golden State Warriors being a team that historically shoots 3-pointers more than most in the NBA, his inability to shoot the 3-point shot would be interesting.
Westbrook shot just 27.3% from 3-point range last year on 2.3 attempts per game and was often left unguarded around the 3-point line.
Turnovers have also been an issue throughout his career, averaging 3.9 per game over his 16-year NBA career.
Despite the lack of a 3-point shot and turnover issues, Westbrook can still make plays for others around him, and with the Warriors having 3-point shooters who could be in the second unit, he could set them up for success in the minutes he does play.
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