Washington Wizards: Can Russell Westbrook change the negative narrative?

Can Russell Westbrook change the narrative with the Washington Wizards?

A few short years ago, Russell Westbrook was arguably the greatest show in the NBA. He was a player that you couldn’t take your eyes off and was certainly appointment television, even if you weren’t a fan of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

During the 2016-17 season, en route to winning the NBA MVP award, Westbrook became the second player (at the time) in league history to average a triple-double for the entire season. He also set the record for most triple-doubles in a single-season with 42.

He was electric, dynamic, and was arguably a top 5 player in the game. However, less than five years later, the narrative on Russell Westbrook has dramatically changed.

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Since that magical season, Westbrook hasn’t been seen as the same player. In fact, he’s now viewed, perhaps somewhat unfairly, as more of a liability than an asset. He’s now been traded in back-to-back offseasons and is no longer considered a lead man.

If anything, you want a player like Westbrook to be your third-best player, or not even on your team (if you’re the Houston Rockets).

Now with the Washington Wizards, Westbrook will have a fresh opportunity to change the narrative of his career. After being once viewed as one of the most exciting players in the league, he’s viewed as one of the biggest stars that’s also a liability – both on and off the floor (contract-wise).

And Westbrook will be entering an interesting situation for him to do so.

Westbrook will be playing second fiddle to Bradley Beal, a star that has continued to rise over the last few seasons. In fact, there might not be a better fit for Westbrook than Beal.

Assuming Westbrook is going to play a big role in the team’s offensive game plan, Beal fits seamlessly. Beal is one of the better and most consistent 3-point shooters in the game and is coming off a season in which he averaged 31 points, six assists, and four rebounds per game on 35 percent shooting from 3-point range on nearly eight attempts per contest.

Even though Beal has proven that he can be a good on-ball scorer, he’s also proven just how great he can be as an off-the-ball scorer. I sense we’ll see plenty of that this season as they integrate Russell Westbrook into the offense.

The big knock on Westbrook over the last couple of seasons, of course, has been his inefficiency. Even though Westbrook shot a career-high 47 percent from the field last season in Houston, he still struggled mightily from the 3-point line.

Westbrook shot just 26 percent from 3-point range, on nearly four attempts per contest. Two things need to be figured out here, either Westbrook stops shooting 3’s or he gets better at them. It’s that simple.

Thing is, over the last few years, he’s done neither.

Over the course of his 11-season career, he’s only shot over 30 percent from deep five times and has only done so once over the last six years. The hope is that Westbrook will be a different player with the Wizards. If he wants to change the narrative of his career, he’ll have to do so.