Once he eventually finds his way to the Denver Nuggets, Russell Westbrook will get arguably his best shot to win an NBA Championship.
At one point in his career, Russell Westbrook was considered one of the best athletes in the game and almost unanimously one of the best point guards. However, now that he approaches the end of his career, entering his age-36 season, Westbrook is just looking for a shot to win his first NBA Championship.
As the LA Clippers continued to retool their roster this summer, Westbrook was traded to the Utah Jazz in a somewhat odd move that will eventually lead to him signing with the Denver Nuggets after his buyout is complete. In a vacuum, the Westbrook-Nuggets pairing does look ill-fitting but in an attempt to acquire more veteran depth in the backcourt, it's not that outlandish of a move.
And considering Westbrook is likely going to be signing a cheap one-year deal, there's not a ton of risk that the Nuggets will be taking with this move. Add in the fact that Westbrook has learned over the last few years of his career how he can play a defined bench role and just "fit in" and this becomes more and more of a digestible signing.
Is this Russell Westbrook's last shot to win an NBA Championship?
Westbrook will turn 36 early on into this season and at this point, you'd have to imagine that there's a good chance this ends up being his last year in the NBA. If this doesn't become his final season in the Association, he can't have many more left. With the Nuggets, there's a strong argument to be made that this will emerge as his last best shot to win an NBA Championship.
Heading into the start of the season, even after the loss of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency, the Nuggets are going to be considered one of the championship favorites in the Western Conference.
I'm not sure how Westbrook will end up factoring for the Nuggets this season but he will add another element as a potential backup guard.
It would be a great story if Westbrook, one of the former stars who has embraced a much smaller role toward the end of his career, finally won an NBA title. However, that could prove to be extremely difficult for the Nuggets to get through the evolving West again. Not to mention how overwhelming of a favorite the Boston Celtics will be on paper to start this season again.