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Russell Westbrook’s disdain for the Los Angeles Lakers may reportedly alter his buyout plans.
According to Sam Amico of Hoops Wire, Westbrook may not sign with the Los Angeles Clippers if he gets bought out by the Utah Jazz since the Clippers and Lakers play in the same building.
“The Clippers also have been mentioned as a potential suitor — though sources told Hoops Wire that after playing in his hometown of LA, and having it not work out, Westbrook may welcome a chance to play in an arena that’s not shared by the Lakers,” Amico wrote. “And the Clippers’ interest in Westbrook has never been all that intense, anyway, sources added.”
The Lakers traded Westbrook to the Jazz in a three-team deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Los Angeles acquired Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt from Utah and D’Angelo Russell from Minnesota. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported on February 11 that Westbrook is expected to take his time heading into the All-Star break to decide what he plans to do for the rest of the season.
Jazz CEO Danny Ainge, general manager Justin Zanik and head coach Will Hardy told Westbrook and his agent Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports that they would welcome the All-Star point guard reporting to the team. However, Utah is prioritizing playing its younger players, so it’s widely assumed that Westbrook will get bought out, per Wojnarowski.
Clippers Stars Want Russell Westbrook
Clippers stars Paul George and Marcus Morris Sr. want Westbrook. The forwards openly recruited the former MVP on February 10. Westbrook and George were teammates on the Oklahoma City Thunder. George has been in contact with Westbrook.
“I mean if there’s somebody out there, Russell, if it makes sense and obviously it goes with our team, we’re all for it,” George said. “We need a point guard. But, (at) the same (time), I think we’re good as well. If nothing happened, we got enough in this locker room to be able to make it work. But it would definitely improve our team if we had that traditional point guard to kind of get us in things and make the game easy. So hopefully Russell sees this and we figure something out.”
Added Morris Sr.: “He hasn’t had an opportunity to play on a team where, like, he could be himself and be able to play freely. Playing with the Lakers, it’s like media, media, media. And from the outside looking in, like every time something bad went wrong, (blame) Russell Westbrook. Nobody else was really getting no blame. And it just kept spiraling down. But we accept him (with) open arms, man. Let him be himself. We need the personality. We need the veteran. He’s been in the playoffs a lot of times, been to the championship. I want him to come. I think that you can’t kill a wounded dog. You give him an opportunity to come back, it could be dangerous.”
Westbrook, 34, is averaging 15.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 7.5 assists this season while shooting 41.7% from the field, 29.6% from beyond the arc and 65.5% from the free-throw line.
Russell Westbrook Could Sign With the Bulls
Westbrook and the Chicago Bulls have mutual interest in partnering up, sources told Heavy Sports. Bulls head coach Billy Donovan coached Westbrook in OKC. Wojnarowski believes Chicago is the frontrunner to sign the future Hall of Famer.
“If he gets out into the buyout market, there is significant interest in Westbrook,” Wojnarowski said on February 10. “I think one team you got to watch and I think will be a frontrunner are the Chicago Bulls. Billy Donovan, their head coach, certainly coached Westbrook in Oklahoma City. If you go further down his bench, Mo Cheeks, Josh Longstaff, there is a staff of former OKC assistants who all had good relationships and worked well with Westbrook with the Bulls.”
The Bulls need a point guard and Westbrook has a rapport with stars Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.
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