this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2023
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Obviously there are more than 25 guys you’d take before Russ right now, but FWIW listening to the clip I think he’s more so talking about Russ as a top-25 floor raiser/engine which might be fair (if not super meaningful from a winning standpoint…). I’m not sure there’s 25 guys you could swap in for Russ after Kawhi and PG go down and get a more competitive Suns-Clippers series, and plenty of the 92 guys ranked higher than him wouldn’t have kept LA in those games
He sure lowered the floor on those lakers teams
And made the ensuing sweep after Kawhi went down “exciting” with his grit and hustle
yes Lakers Russ was a terrible fit, but also unironically yes on the second point lol. it’s not like losing valiantly to the Suns is an achievement but wtf are you expecting from the guy leading a shallow Clippers team minus its two best players against a scorching KD, Booker, and CP3? prime Jordan would be lucky to avoid a sweep that series
The difference is that it doesn’t really matter, and you are saying it yourself. Prime Jordan is probably not beating the Suns either, so who cares if Kevon Looney or Westbrook is losing as the first option against him.
While Westbrook is better as a first option than most NBA players, that skill set is actually heavily overrated when you are inefficient at it. Contenders with elite offenses always have elite efficient first options that have always been better than Westbrook (Curry, KD, Lebron, Luka, Giannis, Jokic)
As for secondary help, Westbrook is horrible now. He has everything you wouldn’t want from a non first option (Except for passing)
Volume Shooting while inefficient
Adds zero spacing
Bad team defender
Big Ego
Dumb plays