2024 NBA Season

[yahoo62278]

Westbrook had his worst season in the last few years. It seems to me that one of the main reasons is that he didn't worry about losing the ball on the court. If you check his stats, you'll see that it was normal for him to make 6-7 turnovers or even 10 turnovers per game. So I'm not sure if Westbrook has any motivation to play better right now.

Out of curiosity, I try to have a look at it.  If we look at his turnover stats in his last 3 seasons:

Los Angeles Lakers - averaging 3.8 turnovers in 78 games
Washington Wizards - averaging 4.8 turnovers in 65 games
Houston Rockets - averaging 4.5 turnovers in 57 games

(I was surprised that he played as part of the starting lineup at all these games )

Almost around just a 1 turnover higher compared to his average on his whole career in OKC for 11 seasons. Also still far from the numbers you have mentioned although there's really at some point that he commits up to 10 turnovers in some of his games.

Is that really the problem we can look at Westbrook right now? Or there are other much more important concerns about him to be looked at instead?

Russel has been in the NBA for 13-14 years now. His career is almost over at this point. When he came into the league he was spectacular to watch, but as the years go by he gets slower and slower and these young kids are much better and faster. It's expected that his turnovers per game likely rise if teams keep trying to utilize him as a starter and give him 30+ minutes per game.

If he is going to help a team win a championship, he needs to be used as a come off the bench player and get 12-20 minutes per night at most.

[wheelz1200]

Westbrook had his worst season in the last few years. It seems to me that one of the main reasons is that he didn't worry about losing the ball on the court. If you check his stats, you'll see that it was normal for him to make 6-7 turnovers or even 10 turnovers per game. So I'm not sure if Westbrook has any motivation to play better right now.

Out of curiosity, I try to have a look at it.  If we look at his turnover stats in his last 3 seasons:

Los Angeles Lakers - averaging 3.8 turnovers in 78 games
Washington Wizards - averaging 4.8 turnovers in 65 games
Houston Rockets - averaging 4.5 turnovers in 57 games

(I was surprised that he played as part of the starting lineup at all these games )

Almost around just a 1 turnover higher compared to his average on his whole career in OKC for 11 seasons. Also still far from the numbers you have mentioned although there's really at some point that he commits up to 10 turnovers in some of his games.

Is that really the problem we can look at Westbrook right now? Or there are other much more important concerns about him to be looked at instead?

It's part of his game.  Westbrook has always been ultra aggressive from whistle to whistle.  It leads to more turnovers than someone who just stands in the corner spotting up for a 3.  He crashes for every rebound and drives hard to the basket more than any other point guard which leads to more offensive fouls, or turnovers.  It also leads to more offensive opportunities as well.  Dude gets crazy backlash, I wouldn't be surprised if he has a turn around season this season. 

[Bttzed03]

^ Speaking of age, we might as well compare with CP3 who is older. He played more games and was able to maintain his turnovers per game to just over 2 in the last decade.

Maybe Westbrook is not really that good at handling the ball but was only able to get pass by defenders because of his explosiveness in his early years. Harden is the same but, unlike Russell, he has a solid outside shooting to compensate for the high TPG.

[wheelz1200]

^ Speaking of age, we might as well compare with CP3 who is older. He played more games and was able to maintain his turnovers per game to just over 2 in the last decade.

Maybe Westbrook is not really that good at handling the ball but was only able to get pass by defenders because of his explosiveness in his early years. Harden is the same but, unlike Russell, he has a solid outside shooting to compensate for the high TPG.

Cp3 and Westbrook have 2 completely different games.  Westbrook crashes the paint where cp3 just sits outside and sets up his team.  Cp3 is probably the best pg in the league, it's unfair to compare the 2 because they play 2 separate types of games.  Cp3 also doesn't crash for rebounds or drives hard to the basket.  Apples and oranges.

[Bttzed03]

^ Speaking of age, we might as well compare with CP3 who is older. He played more games and was able to maintain his turnovers per game to just over 2 in the last decade.

Cp3 and Westbrook have 2 completely different games.  Westbrook crashes the paint where cp3 just sits outside and sets up his team.  Cp3 is probably the best pg in the league, it's unfair to compare the 2 because they play 2 separate types of games.  Cp3 also doesn't crash for rebounds or drives hard to the basket.  Apples and oranges.

I'm trying to say it's not just the lost speed which youth brings (as @yahoo implied) but also the skills at handling the ball, regardless of the style they play, as the reason for the high turnovers. You can see CP3 drive to the basket too but he can get out of traffic when the paint is well defended (zone).

That rebound comparison is irrelevant to this case.


It also brings us back to the point of @harizen

~
(I was surprised that he played as part of the starting lineup at all these games )

He's gotten slow but his ball handling skills hasn't really improved as evidenced by high TPG.

[Pamadar]

I feel like Westbrook would probably change his style and he must have worked super hard this summer. I mean last year the "Westbrick" was something he was sensitive about and he hated being told he is a bad player, if he wants to change that then he has to work really hard and have an amazing year.

If he stops being a bad player then it would help him a lot, but if we see him being bad like this, I honestly can see him just being waived as well, he is THAT bad, I mean he was, and nobody could handle a second season of a player with 40+ million salary to just go out there and play horrible, just let him go away and put a message out there and even paying him while not having him on the roster would be better.

I think that Westbrook will be able to play better if he can show a little more composer in his game.
He did not start the last season well if I recall correctly. But, towards the end of the season, he was coming back to form.

Well, he was not in a red hot form, to be honest. But he was certainly better compared to what he was doing at the start. There was a lot of criticism that he kept the ball too long to himself. Others said that he was not shooting as frequently as he should. I think if he can keep his composure and select the right passes, and also shoot with confidence, he will be able to play a lot better. Because that is what we expected from him. No one wants to see that much money just go to waste.

He has a better chance of converting points if he will keep attacking, this upcoming season if LeBron and AD

will be healthy. He can get more spaces and he can attack the basket, then shoot or make a drop-pass to Either AD or whoever
have a much better to look the basket.

We are not sure if what's the plan is for him, but for now he will be staying and he needs to be more productive and be useful
for the rest of the season.

[Invester]

Anybody followed the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers? Many NBA players participated on their respective countries.

Yes, I do follow some of them but not all of them.

Anybody followed the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers? Many NBA players participated on their respective countries.

Yes and I'm following our country's qualifying games in which we lost against Lebanon just days ago in a close match.

Our NBA prospect is Jordan Clarkson who just confirms that he will play for our country PH in FIBA World CUP 2023.

Tonight, our country will host a match against Saudi Arabia. Expecting a bounce back after a bitter loss against Lebanon.

I'm just curious if there will be no conflict with the schedule of JC to his announcement that he'll play in Fiba WC 2023. I'm not aware of their scheduling and with the WC.

But as he said and confirming that, I guess that there's no problem to his schedule then. Good luck to him and his team.

The biggest basketball events are the Olympics and the NBA and then followed by the FIBA World Cup. The organizers of these events respects each other so their schedules are always not the same. They cannot divide the basketball fans around the world by having the same schedules because it can also divide their profit. However it is popular that many American superstars aren't giving much importance to FIBA World Cup and they give their slots to the younger and upcoming players.

The Utah Jazz will start as a mediocre team or a rebuilding team next season. Therefore he understands that even these qualifier games are more important and valuable than his upcoming games with the Utah Jazz. I just checked that the next FIBA World Cup hosts are the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia. This must be the first time that three nations are hosting this event. JC must be proud along with the other NBA players committing to play with their respective countries. Spain without the Gasol brothers will be the same again.     

[gagux123]

Russel has been in the NBA for 13-14 years now. His career is almost over at this point. When he came into the league he was spectacular to watch, but as the years go by he gets slower and slower and these young kids are much better and faster. It's expected that his turnovers per game likely rise if teams keep trying to utilize him as a starter and give him 30+ minutes per game.

If he is going to help a team win a championship, he needs to be used as a come off the bench player and get 12-20 minutes per night at most.

Is Westbrook at the end of his career??? Or is this just your assumption?

Well, I believe that like other players, Westbrook did not perform as relevant as expected, and yet his stats have been declining.

With Patrick Beverley arrival, I imagine he could be a very useful player (amazingly, Beverley and Westbrook were born in the same year lol)

[yahoo62278]

Russel has been in the NBA for 13-14 years now. His career is almost over at this point. When he came into the league he was spectacular to watch, but as the years go by he gets slower and slower and these young kids are much better and faster. It's expected that his turnovers per game likely rise if teams keep trying to utilize him as a starter and give him 30+ minutes per game.

If he is going to help a team win a championship, he needs to be used as a come off the bench player and get 12-20 minutes per night at most.

Is Westbrook at the end of his career??? Or is this just your assumption?

Well, I believe that like other players, Westbrook did not perform as relevant as expected, and yet his stats have been declining.

With Patrick Beverley arrival, I imagine he could be a very useful player (amazingly, Beverley and Westbrook were born in the same year lol)

Westbrook being at the end of his career is mostly just an assumption by me, but he is not a LeBron James dominate type player who can play 20 years. Look at how many trams were interested in him when the Lakers were looking to trade him. Not many at all. The guy Still thinks he is worth 30 million a year for whatever reason and that's just not the case. IMO he needs to play off thr bench if he wants to last another 3 years in the league.

[danherbias07]

Almost around just a 1 turnover higher compared to his average on his whole career in OKC for 11 seasons. Also still far from the numbers you have mentioned although there's really at some point that he commits up to 10 turnovers in some of his games.

Is that really the problem we can look at Westbrook right now? Or there are other much more important concerns about him to be looked at instead?

78 games were played. Averages 34 minutes per game, 1 minute lesser than his previous year. Punctuality is still intact which he is known at, same as Lebron James.
Points, rebounds, and assists also went down.
But that's because he played for the Wizards which is a team that lacks leadership. That's why his stats went up again.
When it's tried to be compared to the year he was in Houston Rockets with James Harden, the stats is the same as how he performed with the Lakers.
The real problem is WB has the leadership thing, he ain't good at playing for teams with a leader in it.

[OgNasty]

Russel has been in the NBA for 13-14 years now. His career is almost over at this point. When he came into the league he was spectacular to watch, but as the years go by he gets slower and slower and these young kids are much better and faster. It's expected that his turnovers per game likely rise if teams keep trying to utilize him as a starter and give him 30+ minutes per game.

If he is going to help a team win a championship, he needs to be used as a come off the bench player and get 12-20 minutes per night at most.

Is Westbrook at the end of his career??? Or is this just your assumption?

Well, I believe that like other players, Westbrook did not perform as relevant as expected, and yet his stats have been declining.

With Patrick Beverley arrival, I imagine he could be a very useful player (amazingly, Beverley and Westbrook were born in the same year lol)

Westbrook being at the end of his career is mostly just an assumption by me, but he is not a LeBron James dominate type player who can play 20 years. Look at how many trams were interested in him when the Lakers were looking to trade him. Not many at all. The guy Still thinks he is worth 30 million a year for whatever reason and that's just not the case. IMO he needs to play off thr bench if he wants to last another 3 years in the league.

Westbrook doesn't have the skills of LeBron to be able to stay in the league so long.  Russell's game is mostly built on athleticism, which doesn't get better as you age.  He just doesn't have the control needed to be effective when doing what he has to do to be explosive on the court.  This leads to a lot of turnovers and terribly missed shots.  He would have to change his game in order to stay competitive in the league, and he just isn't.  He's trying to be Russ of old and those days are long gone...

[Baofeng]

There are reports that Carmelo might go back to the Knicks as he shows intention that he wanted to play in that City.

He was even a surprised guest in the VMA awards night.

https://sports.yahoo.com/carmelo-anthony-wants-join-york-120044332.html

    “According to a recent report, forward Carmelo Anthony has interest in returning to the New York Knicks.

    “‘I have certainly heard that Carmelo’s got interest in a reunion,’ NBA insider Jake Fischer said. ‘I don’t know if the Knicks have much interest there.'”

Who knows, maybe he will retire as a Knicks and could be offer as well a job after his NBA player career is over. Also, I think his presence as a veteran will be appreciated by the young Knicks. As CP3 said, he is a fan of Udonis Haslem because "young guys needs vets."

[Oasisman]

Westbrook had his worst season in the last few years. It seems to me that one of the main reasons is that he didn't worry about losing the ball on the court. If you check his stats, you'll see that it was normal for him to make 6-7 turnovers or even 10 turnovers per game. So I'm not sure if Westbrook has any motivation to play better right now.

Out of curiosity, I try to have a look at it.  If we look at his turnover stats in his last 3 seasons:

Los Angeles Lakers - averaging 3.8 turnovers in 78 games
Washington Wizards - averaging 4.8 turnovers in 65 games
Houston Rockets - averaging 4.5 turnovers in 57 games

(I was surprised that he played as part of the starting lineup at all these games )

Almost around just a 1 turnover higher compared to his average on his whole career in OKC for 11 seasons. Also still far from the numbers you have mentioned although there's really at some point that he commits up to 10 turnovers in some of his games.

Is that really the problem we can look at Westbrook right now? Or there are other much more important concerns about him to be looked at instead?

There is a much more important thing for Westbrook other than the turnover problems. It is how he's going to adjust his style of play to fit and compliments the Lakers offense and of course he needs to play more defense.
The Lakers needs to run it back again and be more durable to end the season without major injuries. Because I guess one of the huge factor why the Lakers failed to reach the playoffs last season is because of the injuries. They have never played one game with a complete roster last season. AD missed a lot of games and the Lakers went completely out of sink. LeBron taking over and tried carrying the whole Lakers squad but losses momentum eventually after scoring almost 40 pts per game. Westbrook seems lost as well.

[yazher]

Who knows, maybe he will retire as a Knicks and could be offer as well a job after his NBA player career is over. Also, I think his presence as a veteran will be appreciated by the young Knicks. As CP3 said, he is a fan of Udonis Haslem because "young guys needs vets."

Looks like this is his own decision and he might be there with just a reasonable salary. During his time with the Knicks, he was unstoppable but unfortunately is not enough to win a championship since it was also the time when the other championship teams are rising as well. Now he can just pass some good advice to the young guns and maybe he will be the reason for their improvement in the future.

[Botnake]

Who knows, maybe he will retire as a Knicks and could be offer as well a job after his NBA player career is over. Also, I think his presence as a veteran will be appreciated by the young Knicks. As CP3 said, he is a fan of Udonis Haslem because "young guys needs vets."

Looks like this is his own decision and he might be there with just a reasonable salary. During his time with the Knicks, he was unstoppable but unfortunately is not enough to win a championship since it was also the time when the other championship teams are rising as well. Now he can just pass some good advice to the young guns and maybe he will be the reason for their improvement in the future.

He should retire as a Knicks because that's where he has the best season.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/anthoca01/gamelog/2012/#site_menu_link

I'm happy to see him retire as a Knicks, though he had some great seasons with the Nuggets, but he will be more remembered as the Knicks as that's his last team where he was still in his prime.

[danherbias07]

NBA insider Marc Stein reported in his Sunday newsletter, per Yahoo Sports that if the Jazz choose to trade superstar Donovan Mitchell to the Knicks or any other team, there is a “decent chance” the Lakers would be involved as a third team.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/basketball/nba/nba-2022-trade-news-donovan-mitchell-to-new-york-knicks-russell-westbrook-deal-los-angeles-lakers-utah-jazz/news-story/bc882f4af1dbcb176d32bed5d033874f
Jazz again?

Stein offered up the hypothetical of Los Angles landing Bojan Bogdanovic from the Jazz and Evan Fournier from the Knicks and whether that would be enough to pry the picks from the Lakers.

These are just rumors but it may all become fruitful if suddenly the Jazz moves and try to make the trade with the Knicks.
Bojan and Fournier. That completes a good roleplayer roster for the Lakers and they would have strong outside players. Knicks will receive Mitchell so Westbrook might land in Utah with some draft pieces that the Lakers or Knicks would offer. I am positive it could work out. Jazz is rebuilding while the Knicks are trying to get more veteran strength in the likes of Mitchell.

[Natalim]

NBA insider Marc Stein reported in his Sunday newsletter, per Yahoo Sports that if the Jazz choose to trade superstar Donovan Mitchell to the Knicks or any other team, there is a “decent chance” the Lakers would be involved as a third team.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/basketball/nba/nba-2022-trade-news-donovan-mitchell-to-new-york-knicks-russell-westbrook-deal-los-angeles-lakers-utah-jazz/news-story/bc882f4af1dbcb176d32bed5d033874f
Jazz again?

Stein offered up the hypothetical of Los Angles landing Bojan Bogdanovic from the Jazz and Evan Fournier from the Knicks and whether that would be enough to pry the picks from the Lakers.

These are just rumors but it may all become fruitful if suddenly the Jazz moves and try to make the trade with the Knicks.
Bojan and Fournier. That completes a good roleplayer roster for the Lakers and they would have strong outside players. Knicks will receive Mitchell so Westbrook might land in Utah with some draft pieces that the Lakers or Knicks would offer. I am positive it could work out. Jazz is rebuilding while the Knicks are trying to get more veteran strength in the likes of Mitchell.

So why not just trade Mitchell for Westbrook? isn't it possible?

I guess both are making at least $30 million per year, Westbrook probably has a higher salary than Mitchell, but Jazz are seeing Westbrook could bring the team to the championship, maybe they'll ask for the Lakers to trade Mitchell for him. I'm not so familiar with the trade rules, but is my thinking make sense?

[inthelongrun]

NBA insider Marc Stein reported in his Sunday newsletter, per Yahoo Sports that if the Jazz choose to trade superstar Donovan Mitchell to the Knicks or any other team, there is a “decent chance” the Lakers would be involved as a third team.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/basketball/nba/nba-2022-trade-news-donovan-mitchell-to-new-york-knicks-russell-westbrook-deal-los-angeles-lakers-utah-jazz/news-story/bc882f4af1dbcb176d32bed5d033874f
Jazz again?

Stein offered up the hypothetical of Los Angles landing Bojan Bogdanovic from the Jazz and Evan Fournier from the Knicks and whether that would be enough to pry the picks from the Lakers.

These are just rumors but it may all become fruitful if suddenly the Jazz moves and try to make the trade with the Knicks.
Bojan and Fournier. That completes a good roleplayer roster for the Lakers and they would have strong outside players. Knicks will receive Mitchell so Westbrook might land in Utah with some draft pieces that the Lakers or Knicks would offer. I am positive it could work out. Jazz is rebuilding while the Knicks are trying to get more veteran strength in the likes of Mitchell.

So why not just trade Mitchell for Westbrook? isn't it possible?

I guess both are making at least $30 million per year, Westbrook probably has a higher salary than Mitchell, but Jazz are seeing Westbrook could bring the team to the championship, maybe they'll ask for the Lakers to trade Mitchell for him. I'm not so familiar with the trade rules, but is my thinking make sense?

We will see if the Lakers are willing to give up their future draft picks. It was the main reason they failed to acquire Irving because they are unwilling to give up more future draft picks. Landing Bojan or Fournier may not be enough for the Lakers unless it's only a single first-round draft. I can understand the Lakers' management though. Bron is old and Kyrie is not getting younger, so without future, first-round draft picks in the near future then they will end up a losing team for many years again unless they will burn millions of money in order to sign superstars from the other teams.

Wesbrook is worth $47 million next season compared to Mitchell's $37 million. But it is very possible that the Lakers are willing to give up future draft picks for a young Mitchell.

[el kaka22]

Westbrook had 15.8 FGA last year, which is by far the lowest he had in the last 10 years, and had 44% rate which is not his worst, but the thing is, lebron is a guy who likes to drive inside and he is better at it than Westbrok, AD is already inside as a big, so the system didn't fitr Westbrook. So, he started to shoot threes of course, he had 3.4 3pa, and 1 3pm which was under 30% to shoot from threes so he stopped.

This is why he doesn't work well with the Lakers. When you look at the stats, you do not understand why he wasn't a liked player, but when you see 3.8 turnovers per game, not many FG made, low attempts, bad three pointer, and a better player who is much taller and bulkier doing it much more efficiently, you realize Lakers do not need westbrook. They needed Buddy Hield.

[Swordsoffreedom]

I think that Westbrook will be able to play better if he can show a little more composer in his game.
He did not start the last season well if I recall correctly. But, towards the end of the season, he was coming back to form.
Well, he was not in a red hot form, to be honest. But he was certainly better compared to what he was doing at the start. There was a lot of criticism that he kept the ball too long to himself. Others said that he was not shooting as frequently as he should. I think if he can keep his composure and select the right passes, and also shoot with confidence, he will be able to play a lot better. Because that is what we expected from him. No one wants to see that much money just go to waste.

Westbrook had his worst season in the last few years. It seems to me that one of the main reasons is that he didn't worry about losing the ball on the court. If you check his stats, you'll see that it was normal for him to make 6-7 turnovers or even 10 turnovers per game. So I'm not sure if Westbrook has any motivation to play better right now. However, if he doesn't like everyone calling him Westbrick, then he should get a lot better in the upcoming season.

At this point, it actually feels like he is more of a burden for any team. Having him doesn't seem to be helping the team, nor is it helping that he fancies himself a world-class player. Since he is staying, I believe he will at least try to get along with the other players. He doesn't appear to have a very favorable relationship with the players, and I agree that he needs to become more productive. Otherwise, people are obviously going to call his names.

~

He has a better chance of converting points if he will keep attacking, this upcoming season if LeBron and AD

will be healthy. He can get more spaces and he can attack the basket, then shoot or make a drop-pass to Either AD or whoever
have a much better to look the basket.

We are not sure if what's the plan is for him, but for now he will be staying and he needs to be more productive and be useful
for the rest of the season.

No plan is going to work out if he is not able to perform well in court. If he is performing well, and by performing well I mean actually being productive for the team and working well with the team, he will be praised. But, if he keeps performing like this he is not gonna be useful at all. Lebron and AD are gonna play well if they are healthy but I'm very doubtful about Westbrook.

NBA insider Marc Stein reported in his Sunday newsletter, per Yahoo Sports that if the Jazz choose to trade superstar Donovan Mitchell to the Knicks or any other team, there is a “decent chance” the Lakers would be involved as a third team.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/basketball/nba/nba-2022-trade-news-donovan-mitchell-to-new-york-knicks-russell-westbrook-deal-los-angeles-lakers-utah-jazz/news-story/bc882f4af1dbcb176d32bed5d033874f
Jazz again?

Stein offered up the hypothetical of Los Angles landing Bojan Bogdanovic from the Jazz and Evan Fournier from the Knicks and whether that would be enough to pry the picks from the Lakers.

These are just rumors but it may all become fruitful if suddenly the Jazz moves and try to make the trade with the Knicks.
Bojan and Fournier. That completes a good roleplayer roster for the Lakers and they would have strong outside players. Knicks will receive Mitchell so Westbrook might land in Utah with some draft pieces that the Lakers or Knicks would offer. I am positive it could work out. Jazz is rebuilding while the Knicks are trying to get more veteran strength in the likes of Mitchell.

So why not just trade Mitchell for Westbrook? isn't it possible?
I guess both are making at least $30 million per year, Westbrook probably has a higher salary than Mitchell, but Jazz are seeing Westbrook could bring the team to the championship, maybe they'll ask for the Lakers to trade Mitchell for him. I'm not so familiar with the trade rules, but is my thinking make sense?

https://nypost.com/2022/08/28/donovan-mitchell-trade-may-come-with-russell-westbrook-lakers-twist

It feels like your Idea made a lot of sense and something like that is going to happen.
I am not going to be surprised if this deal ends up happening. Westbrook is not doing well on this team.
A change of place could also do wonders for him. So, I think overall it is not going to be a bad idea. At least not for the Lakers and Westbrook.