Why Kings Reportedly Signed Russell Westbrook to Contract Ahead of NBA Season
The Sacramento Kings announced on Thursday that they have signed Russell Westbrook, who reportedly will be in town on a one-year, $3.6 million veteran minimum deal, per ESPN's Shams Charania.
Jake Fischer, reporting for the Stein Line newsletter, explained why the Kings made the move.
"Word is that the Kings ultimately surveyed their roster throughout training camp and preseason play and determined that they needed more veteran know-how behind Dennis Schröder. The well-known edge Westbrook plays with also appeals strongly to Kings coach Doug Christie, whose reserve units struggled to produce last season."
Last season, the 36-year-old Westbrook averaged 13.3 points, 6.1 assists and 4.9 rebounds in 27.9 minutes per game for the Denver Nuggets.
The surefire Basketball Hall of Famer has enjoyed great accolades over his career, including nine All-Star Games, nine All-NBA teams, the 2016-17 NBA MVP award and a spot on the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team and a pair of NBA scoring titles.
In addition, he's one of just three players (Oscar Robertson and Nikola Jokić are the other two) to average a triple-double over a single season. Westbrook has achieved the feat four different times, most recently in 2020-21 with the Washington Wizards.
On Oct. 10, Charania reported on NBA Today that there was a "strong mutual interest" between Westbrook and the Kings, explaining why in detail.
"There is strong mutual interest between Russell Westbrook and the Sacramento Kings," Charania said.
"And the Kings have a need for a reserve point guard. They were 29th in bench points, 29th in bench assists last season. Russell Westbrook helps with that, and he's got relationships across that organization. Domantas Sabonis, he's close with, played with him. He played with Dennis Schröder as well. DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, they have L.A. ties as well.
"B.J. Armstrong, the new assistant general manager there, he knows B.J. Armstrong from the agency side, and he does have respect with Scott Perry, their new general manager, and Doug Christie, their new head coach. We'll see if a deal gets done before the start of the season or during this upcoming year."
A deal did get done, and now Westbrook is in town on to help a Kings team that may find itself in an uphill battle just to make the playoffs. Sacramento did nearly get there last year, finishing ninth with a 40-42 record and qualifying for the play-in tournament. However, they lost their first game to the Dallas Mavericks and were quickly eliminated.
Sacramento has some pieces to compete, with Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan leading the way. One big issue, though, is the loaded Western Conference, with numerous playoff teams (e.g. the Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers) improving on paper.
The Kings did improve their backcourt depth with Dennis Schröder and Westbrook, and that should certainly help throughout the 82-game season. The big question, though, is whether the Kings can bridge the gap between themselves and the top half of the West.
We'll find out soon enough if that's the case when Sacramento opens its regular season on Oct. 22 at the Phoenix Suns.
