Russell Westbrook expected to be bought out by Jazz after Clippers trade; Nuggets a front-runner: Sources

The LA Clippers are sending guard Russell Westbrook, a second-round pick swap and cash to the Utah Jazz, a team and league source confirmed.

Westbrook is expected to agree on a contract buyout with the Jazz, the sources said. The Denver Nuggets are a front-runner to sign Westbrook if he becomes a free agent, The Athletic reported earlier this week.

Westbrook picked up the player option on his contract for 2024-25, but the Clippers wanted to find a trade partner for him. The move with the Jazz is a sign-and-trade agreement for guard Kris Dunn, according to ESPN.

Westbrook logged 11.1 points per game and 4.5 assists in 68 contests last season. Both are career lows in Westbrook’s 17-year NBA tenure. He also played a career-low 22.5 minutes per game.

Still, Westbrook finished seventh in the Sixth Man of the Year voting after beginning the season as a starter and remaining as such after the team acquired James Harden on Nov. 1. Then the Clippers lost six straight games to begin November and Harden was made the point guard of the first unit, bumping Westbrook to the second line. Westbrook made only one start after Nov. 17.

With Harden starting, the Clippers eventually recovered from the month’s losses and went on a 26-5 stretch that briefly placed them atop the Western Conference. Westbrook bolstered the Clippers on the court with his defense, pace and energy, and off the floor with his leadership.

The Clippers finished the regular season at 51-31 before being ousted by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs.

How to sum up Westbrook’s time with the Clippers

Westbrook’s time with the Clippers was always awkward. As a ball-dominant guard with a wayward jump shot, he did not fit the team’s ideal of players who could enhance Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. But that’s not what George or coach Tyronn Lue believed. George had the best year of his career playing with Westbrook in Oklahoma City right before George joined Leonard in LA, and Lue wanted a traditional point guard to work with.

Westbrook was energized with the Clippers, especially after a tumultuous tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers. His postseason performance against the Phoenix Suns in 2023 showed that he had plenty left in the tank. Westbrook’s defense was strong as well. Lue built his training camp in 2023 around Westbrook’s strengths: pace, cutting and dynamic defense. But the beginning of the end of Westbrook’s tenure with the Clippers was when Harden arrived. Lue tried to keep Westbrook as the starting point guard, but Harden struggled to acclimate to the shooting guard role. The only solution was to cancel Westbrook as the starter.

The Clippers will miss Westbrook. He was a dynamo is transition, a change of pace from Harden, a playmaker, an impact defender, a solid rebounder and still athletic and versatile enough to be Harden’s alley-oop partner while being a key piece in small lineups. Westbrook started the 2024 postseason against the Mavericks well, but as the Clippers leaned into more of Harden on-the-ball, there wasn’t a pathway for Westbrook to thrive anymore.

Seventy-nine of Westbrook’s 114 minutes in the playoffs came with Harden on the floor as well. The result was 38 points on 50 shots and only 10 assists in six games for Westbrook.

George and Westbrook are gone now, while Leonard and Harden remain. — Law Murray, Clippers beat writer

What does Kris Dunn bring to the Clippers?

Dunn gives the Clippers a player who will play a similar role to Westbrook as a backup point guard. Dunn is not a dynamic scorer, has no mid-range game, and is not a particularly gifted shooter. He’s a step down from Westbrook as a playmaker on both ends of the floor and as a rebounder.

The Clippers are familiar with Dunn, as the 2016 fifth pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves started to rebuild his career by joining the Clippers G-League team during the 2021-22 season.

Dunn went to the Jazz original on a 10-day contract in February 2023 and now has a three-year pact with the Clippers.

Dunn, 30, is a strong finisher with the athleticism to finish above the rim. He has a good floater. Dunn had a strong 3.8 to 1.2 assists-to-turnover ratio. Dunn is capable of defending at a high level, especially in isolation. He is 6-foot-3 with a 6-foot-10 wingspan, continuing the Clippers’ emphasis this offseason on length. And while Dunn doesn’t shoot frequently, he made 36.9 percent of his 3s last season; Westbrook made only 27.3 percent from 3.

Dunn’s acquisition, and Westbrook’s departure, inches the Clippers closer to a realistic rotation. They are likely to start Harden, Leonard, Terance Mann, Ivica Zubac and Derrick Jones Jr., with a second unit of Dunn, Norman Powell, Amir Coffey, Nicolas Batum and Mo Bamba.

The next order of business for the Clippers this offseason likely involves finding new homes for P.J. Tucker and Bones Hyland, two players who requested to be traded before the February deadline and needed to be sent home before the All-Star break before having uneven finishes to the season. — Murray

Required reading

• Could Russell Westbrook help the Nuggets? Examining his potential fit
• Russell Westbrook opts into contract, but future with Clippers undetermined: Source

(Photo: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)