Why Russell Westbrook should start playing like Ben Simmons
By Austin Payne
Exploring whether Russell Westbrook should take a page out of Ben Simmons’ game, and the Oklahoma City Thunder could shape the roster around it
It’s a good thing the Oklahoma City Thunder have one of the best players in the league in Paul George aside Ben Si- I mean Russell Westbrook, otherwise they might not have anything to look forward to.
Look, I’m a Westbrook fanboy at heart. He’s been one of my favorite players for years now since that 2015 run. Russ is one of the most fun players to watch in the NBA, and arguably the most athletic point guard we’ve ever seen.
Those who say he’s selfish or a bad passer are a bit short-sighted. If you look at his passing in a vacuum he is an elite distributor as far as accuracy and timing go, he is no question a point. It’s just sometimes the way he gets the assists that make us say he’s selfish since they’re sometimes easy dump offs to Steven Adams. His playing style while very entertaining doesn’t always lend itself to great team play or efficiency.
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He’s playing alongside one of the best offensive talents in basketball with Paul George. Obviously, the team needs more than one offensive threat and Westbrook would suffice if he wasn’t such a bad shooter.
Thus, the team needs more shooters and a deeper bench, oh and to not be paying Steven Adams 25m. Adams is great at what he does but what he does is…defend and make point-blank shots. The value of what he does can easily be usurped by scoring more points and paying someone else or others $25 million combined. So am I saying trade him in a Bradley Beal package? Absolutely. Will that happen, though? No, because though the Washington Wizards are incompetent they aren’t dumb.
So what’s the solution then? It isn’t that Adams can’t be traded, it’s that you can’t make that trade for that player. You can still, however, find a willing taker just to get rid of the money, and then bring in a couple of other players that are paid about the same in total. Adams is a stick and play center, and while not all of them are anywhere near as consistent as him, they are readily found, I.E. Thomas Bryant??
You trade Adams and trade Dennis Schroder. In return bring in Thomas Bryant and 2-3 guards who can get their own shot. Jrue Holiday, Terrence Ross, Seth Curry, Darren Collison, Trey Burks, etc. are all options and there’s definitely more.
After remodeling the team to something that more closely resembles a modern day NBA roster and not the best mid-range shooters in the league, you can now get to style of play. The starting lineup is relatively young except for Russ, and he likes to run anyway, so you finally start utilizing Westbrook’s elite passing along with PG’s complimentary assist proficiency to run a fast paces offense. Not only will it allow more open looks for everyone, but it allows Russell to play how he wants without hurting the team for it.
Oh and on that note, let’s get him to start playing like Ben Simmons while we’re at it. Well scratch that, I mean how Simmons should play. Simmons knows he can’t hit the broad side of a barn, so therefore he doesn’t try very often. If Westbrook adopted this mentality in light of the fact that he, unlike Simmons, actually can shoot…they’d be an elite team.
See, it’s not like Russ can’t actually bang some 3’s or hit a middy, he has one of the better mid-range games in the league and his overall field goal percentage isn’t that far off from your typical high usage point.
So just imagine if even with those abilities he curtailed it to play to his strengths while still having those talents to pull out sometimes. Not only would he be a better defender, but the team would run seamlessly as the ball hopped around and PG averaged 25.
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Think about it before you blow the team up. There is a better way to utilize the generational talent OKC has as their disposal.