The NBA season is just two weeks away and Russell Westbrook is still a free agent.
After spending the first 11 years of his career with the Thunder, Westbrook is now officially a journeyman. The future Hall of Famer has played for five different franchises over the last six seasons: the Rockets, Wizards, Lakers, Clippers and Nuggets.
Turning 37 next month, it's not a question of if he can contribute to a team, but whether he can fit in. With Denver last season he put up solid numbers, averaging 13.3 points, 6.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 27.9 minutes per game and finished seventh in Sixth Man of the Year voting.
Last season was the first time that a team with Westbrook had made it to the second round of the playoffs since 2016. As productive as he still is, he's not really a "missing piece" for anyone so he might have to settle for a roster that just needs a body.
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Here are three teams that might find a spot for Westbrook.
Westbrook has seemingly been tied to the Kings all offseason, but Sacramento already has plenty of veterans comfortable with the ball in their hands in Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Malik Monk and Dennis Schröder. Still, just because something doesn't make sense for the roster doesn't mean Sacramento won't do it. The Kings have only been to the playoffs once since Westbrook arrived on campus at UCLA as a freshman in 2006 so why not just call this another homecoming for the California native and go with it?
The Bucks are officially out of the Damian Lillard business and he wouldn't have been playing for them either way this season as he recovers from a torn Achilles, so Milwaukee is left with Kevin Porter Jr., Gary Trent Jr., AJ Green and Cole Anthony to fill their backcourt. Kendrick Perkins thinks Westbrook would be a great fit here.
On top of that, Giannis Antetokounmpo sounds like he may be out of there at the end of the season so the Bucks are a position where they might as well just roll the dice on someone like Westbrook who at the very least will compete as hard as Antetokounmpo would expect.
Kay Adams recently asked Kevin Durant whether he would be open to the idea of playing with Westbrook again on the Rockets. Durant answered in the affirmative:
"Russ is a legend and I think he deserves to be in the NBA right now," said Durant. "And I think he deserves to be able to walk out of the NBA on his terms, so yeah, that would be dope."
Durant and Westbrook played eight seasons together with the Thunder and made an NBA Finals together. Having Durant's blessing is nice, but having a breakout season from Reed Sheppard would probably be nicer for Houston, which is coming off a 52-win season with a young core. Westbrook isn't the key to the Rockets taking the next step in the postseason, but with Fred VanVleet likely lost for the season with a torn ACL, Westbrook could help them navigate the long regular season if Sheppard doesn't step up.
The Rockets' salary cap situation, however, would keep them from being able to sign Westbrook easily. Houston is currently constructed in a way that would require another move in order to bring in Westbrook.
None of this sounds ideal for Westbrook, which makes you start to wonder whether he really will get to leave the NBA on his own terms like his former teammate hopes.
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