Philadelphia 76ers: Don’t even try to start a Russell Westbrook rumor

No, the Philadelphia 76ers are not going to trade for Russell Westbrook. Stop it.

Alright, we need to have a little conversation Philadelphia 76ers fan to Philadelphia 76ers fan.

Now I understand the burning, borderline-chronic urge to suggest the Sixers as a potential landing spot whenever a multiple-time All-Star becomes available, especially one the team’s President of Basketball Operations traded the farm for not one season ago.

But when that player is Russell Westbrook – and a declining Russell Westbrook at that – you just have to, to paraphrase my favorite McDonald’s endorsee, “stop it, get some help“.

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Is Westbrook a good basketball player? No… well, yes… sort of. Compared to you or me – assuming you aren’t Villanova forward Saddiq Bey – Westbrook is a supremely talented athlete gifted with a set of skills we could never dream of possessing, but compared to other NBA players? Well…

Once upon a time, Westbrook was a marquee attraction. Whether paired up with Kevin Durant and James Harden on a team that will all but surely receive the ’30 for 30′ treatment down the line or during his one-man mission to average a triple-double for multiple seasons, fans the world over would tune in to Thunder games to see what ‘The Brodie’ had in store.

Westbrook parlayed this success into endorsement deals both local and international, like the rare Jordan Brand signature shoe line the ‘Why Not’ – which, admittedly, have some pretty cool colorways – and most importantly of all, a pair of league MVPs.

But now? Not so much.

Despite making his sixth-straight All-Star game in 2021 – and ninth overall – Westbrook’s 12th NBA season was a bit of an inflection point in his NBA career. Though he still put up incredible numbers in an offense tailor-made to get backcourt points, averaging 27.2 points, seven assists, and 7.9 rebounds per game, Westbrook’s offensive game was almost exclusively relegated to taking shots from in the paint or from the line. While he did attempt 213 shots from 3 over his 57-game regular season tenure in Houston, he knocked them down at a 25.8 percent clip, the worst mark of his career since 2010.

To make matters worse, Westbrook oftentimes didn’t even attempt shots from beyond the arc in an offense designed to do exactly that, and oftentimes looked incredibly disinterested in being a secondary star behind his former Thunder teammate.

If Westbrook is disinterested in soldering on as a member of a retooling team that just surrendered Chris Paul and a pair of protected first-round picks to procure his services, what makes anyone think Westbrook would welcome a trade to Philly with open arms?

I mean, think about it, what did your Philadelphia 76ers need more than anything else last season?

3 point shooting.

What is Russell Westbrook not very good at?

3 point shooting.

What do the Philadelphia 76ers have too much of?

Paint scorers.

What is Russell Westbrook very good at?

Paint scoring.

While Westbrook’s abilities as both a passer and a rebounder could benefit the Sixers’ new-look offense under Doc Rivers, so could Rajon Rondo, a player who won a championship in said system and will cost much, much, much less than an average of $42 million(!!!) per year over the next four seasons.

And anyway, even if the Sixers did want to trade for Westbrook – which, again, they 99.9 percent don’t – how would they pull it off? With a cap hit of a little over $38 million in 2020-21 – more than double the pay of the Sixers’ entire bench – the Sixers would have to include either Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris, or a combination of Al Horford and Josh Richardson in a potential deal to make the money work. Now one could legitimately argue where each of those players rank in relation to the rest of the league; it’s clear Westbrook’s contract is among the least desirable in the entire NBA; less valuable than Horford’s, Harris’, and even Paul’s.

Even if Westbrook was an on-court fit in a Big 3 with Embiid and Simmons, it’s hard to imagine any general manager with job-security – like Daryl Morey‘s five-year contract – would be willing to take on a contract that pays a 35-year-old point guard with an alienating style of play $46 million in 2022-23.

Now before you get all up in arms about my ‘unfair’ take on Westbrook’s fit, just know, I’m a fan. We’re both UCLA Bruins alums, and for a time, there was no more fun player to watch on an NCAA court. Just because he isn’t a fit on the Sixers doesn’t mean can’t still play at a high level. Go to Charlotte, play under Michae Jordan, and score 30 points a game as the face of a franchise once more.

But on the Sixers? The Philadelphia 76ers? Russell Westbrook is just a bigger Ben Simmons with a worse attitude.