Tag: Russell Westbrook

On this day: Thunder trade Russell Westbrook to Rockets

On this day: Thunder trade Russell Westbrook to Rockets.

On this day in 2019, the Oklahoma City Thunder officially began a new era.

They shipped Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Chris Paul and four potential first-round picks.

This shocking deal came roughly a week after the Thunder sent Paul George to the LA Clippers for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari and several draft picks through the 2020s.

The George trade signaled a likely exit for Westbrook after 11 seasons with the Thunder. They failed to win a playoff series in two seasons, so the Russ-PG duo likely reached its peak.

Five years later, the only pick to materialize from Houston was the No. 12 pick of this year’s draft — which turned into Nikola Topic.

The Thunder still own swap rights in 2025 and a top-four protected first-round pick in 2026.

Paul rejuvenated his career in his sole season in OKC. He led them to a playoff experience and made the All-NBA third team. He was subsequently traded to the Phoenix Suns.

With hindsight, this was a bitter — but necessary — move for the Thunder. Both parties reached the natural conclusion of their relationship as they were ready to start fresh.

Since then, the Thunder have smashed open a championship window with one of the best cores in the league. Meanwhile, Westbrook has bounced around the league a bit.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Russell Westbrook meeting Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon had NBA fans making the same Nikola Jokic joke

You got the wrong Serbian star, Russell Westbrook!

Part of the Denver Nuggets’ master plan to win two NBA titles in three seasons reportedly involves eventually signing Russell Westbrook. Unfortunately for three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, Westbrook remains in a holding pattern with the Los Angeles Clippers.

That doesn’t mean the legendary point guard can’t spend his offseason hanging out with other Serbian star athletes for the time being.

As Novak Djokovic awaits a quarterfinal match at Wimbledon 2024, he got a surprise guest — Westbrook, who apparently came to take in some world-class tennis. It’s a little too convenient that Westbrook happened to meet Djokovic, one of Jokic’s best friends, as the Nuggets recruit him in the background.

Isn’t it?

In all seriousness, Westbrook meeting Djokovic right before he might join Jokic’s Nuggets probably isn’t connected at all. It’s just so funny that Westbrook would hang out with another player who has a “Joker” nickname during a time when the Nuggets are waiting for him to become available.

NBA fans made the same Nikola Jokic joke after seeing Novak Djokovic hang out with Russell Westbrook

Russell Westbrook texted Thunder’s Isaiah Hartenstein about OKC

Russell Westbrook texted Thunder’s Isaiah Hartenstein about OKC.

After admiring from afar, Isaiah Hartenstein will now enjoy a firsthand experience of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s culture for the foreseeable future.

The signing became official on Saturday. Hartenstein spoke to the media about his decision. He mentioned the Thunder’s reputation as one of the selling points to his decision to leave the New York Knicks and ink a three-year deal in OKC.

The 26-year-old disclosed the Thunder’s reputation precedes itself less than a week since it was reported he signed a contract. Even though he’s yet to spend a minute on the court with his new teammates, he easily envisions how much his playstyle meshes with OKC’s.

“The style of play I think really fits me,” Hartenstein said. “I’m a high-IQ player. They have a lot of guys who cut, so I think to me I’m one of the best passers in the NBA.”

Hartenstein mentioned that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reached out to him. The MVP runner-up welcomed him to OKC. Both players will likely share ample time on the court as pick-and-roll partners.

Hartenstein also said he remembered growing up in Germany watching the old Thunder squads headlined by the trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

“OKC was always a team I was always excited about,” Hartenstein said.

He even detailed that Westbrook reached out to welcome him to OKC. The former MVP enjoyed the best years of his career with the Thunder from 2008-19. They crossed paths at the Houston Rockets in the 2019-20 season.

“Russ was probably one of the first guys that texted me,” Hartenstein said. “He was like, ‘If you ever need anything — I think he said ‘the O’ or something — just let me know.'”

That was a surprising namedrop by Hartenstein. Westbrook is obviously looked at fondly by Thunder fans during his time. The future Hall-of-Famer’s ability to relate himself to all of his teammates from up and down the depth chart is well documented.

Hartenstein is the latest example of this. Before he became one of the best backup bigs in the league, he tried to find his footing in the early stages of his career as a 2017 second-round selection.

The reaction to the Westbrook anecdote was largely positive from Thunder fans. Despite not being together for five years, the love between Westbrook and OKC remains strong.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Nikola Jokic reportedly wants the Nuggets to sign Russell Westbrook, which … might work?

Nikola Jokic seems to know something we don’t.

As rival teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder load up in an arms race, the Denver Nuggets have kind of been caught holding the bag.

They already lost valuable starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on the first day of NBA free agency. Furthermore, they’ll now be relying on a host of mid-to-late first-round picks to become major contributors in another title run. That’s not an impossible ask, but for the time being, it is a lofty bet.

Though, if Nikola Jokic has anything to say about it, it seems Denver will soon be adding a living NBA legend to hopefully help its title ambitions.

According to Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports, Jokic has reportedly been pushing the Nuggets behind the scenes to add veteran point guard Russell Westbrook. The 35-year-old former MVP is in the middle of the ring-chasing era of his career and is seemingly more than willing to take on a support role (with a cheaper salary) in the right situation if it means he can finally win a title.

The Nuggets, with the three-time MVP in Jokic, would obviously potentially qualify as that right situation:

Candidly, when I had heard the Nuggets were interested in Westbrook, I was skeptical of the fit.

As good as Westbrook can be, even in a complementary role, he remains one of the more ball-dominant players in the NBA. If he were to, say, run the Nuggets’ young bench unit, there was little doubt in my mind that the bench would effectively take the identity of Westbrook continually driving to the rim and taking mid-range shots. That’s not good for a championship contender seeking more depth and offensive balance.

Now that I hear Jokic is the one pulling the strings for Westbrook, I wonder what the angle is. If I were to guess, I’m betting Jokic thinks he can maximize Westbrook’s trademark explosiveness as a cutter and driver and that he’d be unselfish enough to be an offensive Swiss Army Knife for the Nuggets. He’d run the bench. He could share the floor with Jamal Murray as another ball-handler. He’d make the dirty “hustle” plays. Think Bruce Brown — a key member of Denver’s 2023 title team — but with less defense.

Far be it from me to question Jokic’s thought process too much on this front.

From Brown to Aaron Gordon and even Caldwell-Pope, Jokic has a well-established precedent of helping wring out every last drop out of talented, if misused, NBA veterans. If the Nuggets get the version of Westbrook that Jokic thinks he can coax out, they will remain amongst the NBA’s true small handful of heavyweights.

So, if he thinks Westbrook can help the Nuggets win another title, I have no choice but to see the vision.

Lakers trading for Trae Young would be Russell Westbrook part two

If the Lakers traded for Hawks star Trae Young, it would likely be a repeat of the disaster that was Russell Westbrook’s tenure with them.

Draft day 2024 in the NBA, or at least the first day of the draft, is finally here, and it could be a pivotal day for the Los Angeles Lakers. They will be able to offer up to three first-round draft picks in a potential trade in order to try to land a star or borderline star player.

Several possible targets have been mentioned, and one of the biggest names mentioned has been Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks. He has made the All-Star team three times in his six seasons and has career averages of 25.5 points and 9.5 assists a game.

That would make it seem on the surface that Young, who is only 25 years of age, would be an ideal third star to place alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Those numbers would make it seem like he could also take Los Angeles into the post-James era and ensure a smoother transition toward whatever would come next.

But a slightly closer look tells a different story.

Yes, Young is a legitimate scoring threat who drops dimes as regularly as a leaking Coinstar machine. Yes, he’s a pretty good 3-point shooter, at least for stretches. But overall, he shoots a low percentage from the field, has questionable shot selection, is a questionable decision-maker, turns the ball over a lot and is viewed as a defensive liability.

Sound familiar?

In 2021, the Lakers failed to defend their NBA championship and lost in the first round of the playoffs. Thus, they looked to reload in a big way. They had interest in veteran playmaking wing DeMar DeRozan and sharpshooter Buddy Hield, but they swung a trade for Russell Westbrook instead.

For whatever reason, Westbrook failed to fit in. He had some good moments, but his shot selection and decision-making drew the ire of Lakers fans, as did his defensive deficiencies and poor outside shooting. He also couldn’t find a way to be productive without the basketball.

He quickly became a scapegoat for all that went wrong for the Lakers during the 2021-22 season. Some of it was hyperbolic, but everyone quickly realized that trading for him was a big mistake.

Even worse, the Lakers gave up a lot in that trade to get Westbrook — they jettisoned guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and forward Kyle Kuzma, two key contributors on their 2020 title-winning team. They also parted ways with forward Montrezl Harrell, the 2019-20 Sixth Man of the Year, as well as guard Isaiah Jackson, whom they took with the No. 22 pick in the 2021 draft.

Many have felt that in doing so, L.A. essentially dismantled a championship team and wasted perfectly good assets. The entire city seemed to rejoice when Westbrook, an L.A.-area native, was finally dealt last February for D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley. After that deal, the team instantly went from mediocrity to a Western Conference finals appearance.

Young will make $43 million next season (Westbrook made $44.2 million during the 2021-22 campaign), so acquiring him would be extremely expensive for the Purple and Gold, just as acquiring Westbrook was. The team would have to give up multiple good and useful players, as well as plenty of draft capital, and perhaps they would end up giving up more than they did to get Westbrook in 2021.

It would take them all that to get a player who has shot just 43.6% from the field and averaged 4.2 turnovers a game for his career. Oh, and the Hawks’ defensive rating was 3.8 points better without Young than it was with him this season.

If the Lakers end up trading for Young, it would likely torpedo whatever may be remaining of the James era in L.A. It would also handicap their efforts to rebuild and retool once he leaves.

Memo to the Lakers: Don’t do it. Please, just don’t do it.

Russell Westbrook had the time of his life dancing to Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us at The Pop Out: Ken and Friends

Be more like Russell Westbrook.

Wednesday night’s The Pop Out: Ken and Friends concert may well go down as one of the most consequential nights in rap history.

Serving as both Kendrick Lamar’s first major appearance since his blistering rap battle with Drake and an overwhelming celebration of Los Angeles’ storied hip-hop scene, the night provided catharsis and exhilaration for the thousands of fan in attendance at Kia Forum and watching at home.

Toward the end of the show, Lamar invited a host of people to the stage as he performed the instantly iconic diss track “Not Like Us” five times.

One of them was Los Angeles Clippers star Russell Westbrook, who looked like he had the time of his life dancing and singing along to Lamar’s smash record among the big crowd of people on stage.

Westbrooks looks like he’s on cloud nine as he vibed out to Lamar’s outstanding track, as the whole event looked, well, positively euphoric.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1373]

Kendrick Lamar’s The Pop Out: Ken & Friends concert was an epic victory lap full of nostalgia and the best kind of pettiness

The best moments from Kendrick Lamar’s The Pop Out: Ken & Friends concert.

There shouldn’t have been any doubt about who won this generation’s greatest rap beef after Kendrick Lamar dropped Not Like Us to unofficially bring his war of words with Drake to an emphatic end with a chart-topping song that continues to dominate the summer airwaves.

However, if there was any remaining sliver of belief Drake made out OK, Lamar extinguished it with one incredible night of performances Wednesday at the Kia Forum for The Pop Out: Ken & Friends concert. It was a show so good I wouldn’t have believed the hype this morning had I not stayed up to watch it myself on the surprisingly crispy Amazon Prime Video stream.

The four-hour concert was more than a victory lap, though. Sure, Lamar used his set to hammer home the point he won, performing Not Like Us five (FIVE!) straight times to close the show, in addition to doing Euphoria and Like That. But it was also a night of nostalgia, unity and just all around good vibes.

It opened with performances from other West Coast artists before transitioning into a set by DJ Mustard, with performances from Tyler the Creator, YG and Dom Kennedy, among so many more. Then K. Dot finally did his thing and a good night got even better.

These were the best moments from Kendrick Lamar’s finale.

Opened with Euphoria (with new lyrics)

It didn’t take long for us to learn what type of time Lamar was on, because he opened his set with what is still in my opinion the best song to come from his beef with Drake. To my knowledge this was the first time Lamar ever performed Euphoria, or any of the disses for that matter.

The energy in the arena was palpable through the screen. And not only did Lamar do the whole six-plus minute hookless song in its entirety, he added new lyrics: “Give me Tupac’s ring back and I might give you a little respect.”

Black Hippy reunion and a Money Trees performance

After taking us on a journey backwards through his catalog, from DAMN. to To Pimp a Butterfly to good kid, m.A.A.d city, Lamar landed on his 2012 hit Money Trees, which set the stage for Jay Rock to perform his popular verse before diving into some of his other hits.

But that was just the start of what turned into a nostalgic reunion of TDE’s Black Hippy, with Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q eventually joining Lamar and Rock. And of course Q had to do some of his hits too.

This meant something to some of us!

The Like That verse

This was the song that kicked off the “big three” beef, so it was a big moment to see Lamar perform his verse. And it hit just as hard in concert as it did the first time we all pressed play on the Future and Metro Boomin smash.

Unfortunately, Future was one of the few artists not in attendance to do his part of a collab. That’s the only thing that could have made this better.

A Dr. Dre set with a twist at the end

It wouldn’t have been a legendary show without having one of the West’s living legends come out, and Lamar checked that box by having Dr. Dre do a couple songs in the middle of his own set: Still D.R.E. and California Love.

But Dre wasn’t done after that. Before he left the stage, Lamar asked him if he had anything else to say. That’s when Dre broke into a whisper that’s become synonymous with the metaphorical death of Drake’s career:

“Psst. I see dead people.”

And right on cue, Lamar jumped into Not Like Us.

He did Not Like Us (x5!)

This is when the grave dancing really begun, because Lamar didn’t do Not Like Us once, twice or even three times to bring his show to a close. He did it FIVE times.

And the first two times, he dropped the beat right as packed arena was singing “A minorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.” And if you know the reference, you know the message he was trying to send to you know who. This was a victory lap unlike any seen before it.

He had the entire crowd singing it and everybody at home. There ain’t no coming back from this for Drake.

A moment of unity, including some NBA stars

There were some celebrities in attendance besides the artists performing, including Lakers star LeBron James. But when Lamar invited his L.A. family on stage at the end, Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan were among the locals to come up and vibe out to Not Like Us with Lamar.

And yes, that’s DeRozan who spent nine years as a Toronto Raptor, which had to be another shot to Drake’s ego. Look at how much fun Westbrook is having.

In the end, though, it turned into a beautiful moment, as Lamar had all these people from different backgrounds, hoods and cliques come together for a good time and a beautiful photo to cap it all off.

This was really a special moment in hip hop.

Nikola Jovic Q&A: ‘From a young age, I always want to be the best no matter what’

Serbian big man Nikola Jovic sat down with HoopsHype to discuss how he’s developed, what it’s like playing with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, what’s his natural position, and more.

Serbian big man Nikola Jovic became a pivotal part of the Heat’s rotation in his second NBA season shooting almost 40 percent from deep and starting 38 games.

Jovic sat down with HoopsHype, on behalf of adidas Eurocamp, to discuss how he’s developed, what it’s like playing with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, what’s his natural position, and more.

Report: Nets were offered Russell Westbrook, picks for Kyrie Irving

Per Dave McMenamin of ESPN, the Brooklyn Nets received an interesting trade offer for Kyrie Irving from the Los Angeles Lakers last season.

The Brooklyn Nets are home for the summer after missing the chance to participate in the postseason in any capacity after their disappointing performance in the 2023-24 season. As Brooklyn, along with the rest of the NBA world, watches former Net Kyrie Irving try to win the 2024 NBA Finals, a new report has surfaced.

Per Dave McMenamin of ESPN, the Nets received an interesting trade offer from the Los Angeles Lakers for Irving when the relationship between him and Brooklyn broke down close to the trade deadline of the 2022-23 campaign. According to what his sources told McMenamin, the Lakers offered Russell Westbrook along with first-round picks in 2027 and 2029.

At the time, the Nets were trying to negotiate a contract extension with Irving given that he was in the final year of his deal. Brooklyn wanted to retain Irving to a long-term deal that Irving wanted, but only if the contract had certain stipulations tied to how much time Irving missed.

Irving did not want his contract to have any stipulations in it and when both sides couldn’t come to an agreement, he requested a trade on Feb. 3 of last season and was traded to the Dallas Mavericks less than two days later. Reports at the time suggested that Irving’s preferred destination was the Lakers so that he could reunite with LeBron James, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported shortly after the trade that Brooklyn preferred what Dallas had to offer.

On Feb. 5, 2023, the Nets traded Irving and Markieff Morris to the Mavericks for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2029 unprotected first-round pick, and second-round picks in 2027 and 2029. One can wonder if the Lakers’ first-round picks in 2027 and 2029 would be more valuable than Dallas’ first-round pick in 2029, but that would have required Brooklyn to re-route Westbrook, whom the Lakers traded to the Utah Jazz just for him to be waived by the Jazz a little over a week later.

[lawrence-related id=58979,58976,58972]

Sam Presti tells funny story related to Russell Westbrook, NBA dress code

Sam Presti tells funny story related to Russell Westbrook, NBA dress code.

During the season, the camaraderie displayed by the Oklahoma City Thunder was very evident. From postgame barks to messing with each other during their media availabilities, it’s obvious how close-knit this group was.

Thunder general manager Sam Presti had a similar assessment of OKC’s chemistry. In his end-of-season presser, he compared this squad’s chemistry to previous iterations such as the ‘Thunder U’ and ‘Stache Bros’ eras.

Presti even revealed an interesting anecdote about Russell Westbrook that he felt comfortable enough to tell several years later.

“I’ll give you a funny story on this. The Statute of Limitations is over here. It’s really my own Statute of Limitations,” Presti joked. “… We were playing San Antonio in the playoffs, and it was during this really weird time where the NBA was cracking down on the dress code, but they were also starting to promote the outfits.

“So it was like they’re calling us and threatening to fine us, but then the marketing team — their marketing team was plastering pictures of Russell walking in.”

As most know, Westbrook is one of the more notorious fashion icons of this latest era of NBA players. He’s made countless headlines off his game attires alone.

“They liked to give us a hard time I felt. They called me the day of a playoff game in San Antonio — so it was either the second round or Western Conference Finals — and they’re like, ‘You need to talk to Westbrook about what he’s wearing,'” Presti said. “I go, ‘It’s the day of a playoff game. He might have some chaps and a cowboy hat — I don’t know what the guy is wearing.’ But we’re on the road… He’s definitely not walking in in sweatpants. I can tell you that. He may not play.”

“So I waited. They were really giving us a hard time about this — ‘We’re going to fine you guys if he doesn’t do this.’ — I thought it was kinda ridiculous.”

As he waited, Presti brainstormed a genius idea that could convey the league’s message to Westbrook in a humorous tone.

“So I called Ray Westbrook, his brother. I said, ‘I need you to get me an outfit of Russell’s,'” Presti said. “So I dressed up in one of Russell’s — a sleeveless hooded sweatshirt, leather pants, and a gold — he had this gold lion medallion, which when I picked it up, it was so cheap — I was like, ‘Russ, come on, man. I know what you make.'”

Presti said it was a nice break from an intense playoff run. He noted that the Thunder were a serious group that season as they vied for a championship.

“Because the team was very tight and it was so serious — it’s a serious group. This was Adams, Derek Fisher, Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka. It’s not a bowl of cherries in there every day, and that’s why this particular team was good,” Presti said. “But I walked in wearing Russell’s clothes and didn’t really break character and was just like, ‘Guys, we’ve got to talk about the dress code.'”

Presti’s end-of-season pressers are typically long — this year’s lasted over 2.5 hours — but they’re worth the listen to just for the occasional funny story like this. It displays a relatable aspect to Presti and the players that rarely gets shown in a results-oriented industry.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]