Russell Westbrook is a future hall-of-famer, and he reminded the NBA community of that Wednesday at Golden 1 Center.
After an offseason where he oddly went unsigned all summer by a contender, the Kings finally signed him right before the season began. On Wednesday night, Russ was electric at 36 years old against the Golden State Warriors. The energy, athleticism, and general aura he brings to the floor is entertaining, no matter how strange the fit is within the context of this roster.
He finished with 23 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in 35 minutes. He was 69% from the field and 75% from three.
16 rebounds??
After game, Westbrook said, “Humbly speaking, I’m the best rebounding guard ever so when the ball comes across the rim, I’m going to get it.”
Yep, he has the most rebounds ever by a guard in the NBA. Talk your talk, Russ.
And yes, there are too many guards on this team.
Yes, understanding this roster and the plan for this season and the future seems nearly impossible.
But Westbrook is in Sacramento this season and even though he is here in the twilight of his career, he is willing and capable of still delivering some incredible performances so I’ll enjoy them while I can.
Against the Warriors, the shot was falling, the explosion to the rim was constant, the court vision was on display and the hops for the rebounds was impressive. And to top it off, it all helped seal a victory. Granted the Warriors were without Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green, but the Kings were without Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis. In their absence, Westbrook stepped up.
You can watch the highlights below.
The real question is this: Who are we bringing in as we build around Russ??
I have to admit I was wrong about Weatbrook. IMO the Kings should have not gotten him but he has shown so much of what the King’s have been lacking in hustle and spark that i’s been infectious for the rest of the King’s players. Go Russ and Go KING!
Thank you Jack. I have countered people on this site for disparaging a hall of famer who gives maximum effort every time he hits the court. So many little intangibles in his game. He’s a double digit rebounder because of balls out effort. You don’t get triple doubles over and over without major talent and effort. So I hope others stand up and retract their ridiculous comments.
How can you not enjoy watching this guy play. Not a perfect player but a very unique talent.
Russ having one good game will not change my opinion on Russ at all, he’s way past his prime, and will not take the Kings very far this year. But maybe I’m wrong, we’ll see. I call it like I see it. I know ball and I don’t sugarcoat it.
Yeah, he’s been great. I think he should remain in the starting lineup even after Keegan returns. We can platoon Dennis and DeMar depending on matchups. Helps our defense, rebounding and effort level.
I’m liking the effort by the team on both ends. The team is still flawed, but have to give credit for the effort to Doug and I think Russ may be the biggest reason we’re seeing DDR, LaVine and Monk working harder on both ends.
Problem to me wasn’t WB, it was adding him AFTER already getting DS…should of never gave DS that contract if you could of got WB on a much cheaper deal like he is on
Exactly
Similar. No issue with Westbrook personally, but we already had 3(!) ball-dominant guards. Why in the world did we need a 4th?
It’s no reflection on who he is or what he does (which is still, at times, amazing). It’s just that his “fit” on this team is beyond ridiculous.
For all of you who have disparaged Westbrook, I hope you watched last nights game. He never cheats the fans, just busts his butt every time he takes the court.
He shows up every night
He knows how to play the right way
He leaves it all on the court
He gives 110%
Cliché away, but hey, if the shoe fits!
I keep hearing warnings about Bad Russ – and it will happen – but in the meantime, give me that effort and energy. I will watch that every night, gladly.
I will continue to rag on Malik Monk. Sorry, I am still just not a fan of his game.
/hat tip (maybe crown tip?) to the Kings 5 by committee: Drew Eubanks, Precious Achiuwa (the Ah choo! is why he is known as The Big Sneeze. It’s because of his name), and Maxine Raynaud. All contributed positively, albeit against Quinten Post, Trayce Jackson-Davis and the ghost of Al Horford (who’s clock still doesn’t look like he’s adjusted to this time zone). The Warriors without Draymond are as bereft of a frontline as Sacramento. I would’ve enjoyed a Kuminga vs Keegan matchup.
I like the Big Sneeze, but I really want to call him PrecAchiu!
Fun win. Liked what I saw from the rooks. Always fun to beat the Dubs.
Offense has been decent the past few games and we’re putting in the effort. Still a 9-13th seed team, but looking better than it did thru preseason and the first few games.
Missing half our team and Keon still only gets 17 minutes. SMH.
It’s gonna get real interesting when Keegan comes back. So many guards and so little minutes to spread round. We all know LaVine and DDR are going to get their 30+ minutes every night so where does that leave everyone else? Some early observations:
1) Nique needs minutes. He looks good so far and the Kings need to do what is right by his development. Give him 20+ minutes a night. You didn’t trade up to have a 5 year college player ride the bench.
2) Westbrook looks great so far, but is he going to take a back seat to Schröder and play less than 20 minutes per game once everyone is healthy? Why the hell did Perry sign both of those guys?
3) Ellis is still head and shoulders the best POA defender on the team. Does Doug stick to his “defense first” narrative and play Keon 20+ minutes a night
4) Where does this leave Monk? If someone is to get his minutes cut, it may end up being him. Nique is a priority, Eliis brings defense, and LaVine gets the lion’s share. There is not going to be minutes behind Schröder and Wesbrook. Monk is my pick to get moved first.
5) Doug McDermott must be dating Anjali. I mean, there is no other explanation, amirite?
I think the solution may be to lower the minutes of all the starters, except for Domas but especially for DDR. Game to game, the backup guards will have variations of minutes because Schroder/LaVine/DDR will get their allotment of minutes. The solution is to trade DDR and let Nique/Keon absorb most of his minutes. I don’t see it happening though.
Yeah, I don’t see DDR going. He at least has some size and can score efficiently. It’s the redundancy of Schröder, Russ, and Monk that is hurting my brain. One of them has to go.
I agree with trading DDR over Ellis. Saw a trade where DDR goes to the Clippers for Derrick Jones Jr. and Bogi. Jones is the kicker here. He could back up either SF or PF. Only drawback is he is 28. Still like Ellis for Eason. Makes a lot of sense to me.
Lets fast forward to the deadline and the roster (probably) hasn’t changed and the spin from local media will be great
While its great that Westbrook had a great game and did what Russ does, But what for what purpose for this team? Its going nowhere, well no nowhere fast!
To a wider point, I will say there is one thing Westbrook has bought to this team, and it was a point someone else made earlier in the week on another thread. Its my opinion that this team has signed and allowed middling players to get their stats at the expense of winning and making winning the most important thing. I see Doug wax on at Defense being a priority and Lavine and Derozan say he hold my beer, this isn’t what we do. I’d blame management and ownership too more so as they just seem so happy to have these players on the team and can rub shoulders with them
I suspect that DDR should be 6th man on this team, but god forbid that is ever bought up or suggested as such an idea is seen as being sacraligious to such a player
I appreciated getting winning players with that competitive fire are hard to find, but this rearranging the deckchair of overpaid middling aging talent (DS, George Hill et al) and expecting change is insane. When other teams might take a chance on other teams young talents
This summer Utah traded Collin Sexton for Nurkic and second round pick, Cole Anthony was signed as a free Agent by the Bucks. I’d rather see the team sign these type of players rather than DS to a 45 million deal
My prediction, not my desire – 240 minutes total :
Domas, Keegan, DDR & Zach get 32-33 minutes each = 130 minutes.
Dennis and Russ get around 30 each = 60 minutes.
Niq & MM in the 20 minutes each range = 40 minutes.
Keon gets 10 minutes or so.
So no minutes for Eubanks, Maxime, Carter and Precious?
Forgot backup center.
Max and DC are going to Stockton and or only getting garbage time.
Revised prediction:
Domas, Keegan, DDR, Zach, Dennis and Russ avg 30+ each = 185-190
Niq, MM & Precious 15 each = 45
Keon = 5-10
If Precious somehow takes all of Eubanks minutes, that’s an indictment on Perry. That would all the dudes he brought in this summer are being replaced by dudes he’s had to being in last minute to replace all the dudes he brought in this summer.
Par for the course in Basketball Hell.
Yeah. We’re already there with Saric. He’s moved into McBuckets’ neighborhood.
Eubanks has been better than I expected, but still nowhere near JV level.
Keon at 10 minutes. He wouldn’t even break a sweat. Trade him.
And Saric too. If Doug does not play Ellis more then I say trade him. Someone like the Rockets need someone up front so Perry see if you can trade Ellis for Tari Eason. Solves a lot of problems. Even if you have to throw in a protected first I would do it.
Signing Westbrook was about his leadership/mentorship and what he still had left in the tank. The guy plays hard every possession and can change the culture of the Kings.
The culture thing:
Shakespeare, Dvorak, Robert Frost, Sourdough, Yogurt – yeah, I get that. For Sacramento? Nah, I don’t get the culture thing.
If you want a culture generator – than have a young squad and have A (singular) vet to set the tone.
This squad is filled with veteran players on their downslope. Russ is Russ, he plays at the same level of intensity from his rookie season. He is not going to culture DeMar DeRozan. DDR plays his own game, he’s not going to become Russell Westbrook, and nor should he be expected to. Zach Lavine plays at his own pace. Schröder, ditto. Domas plays at the high intensity level, but he did that before Westie was here. Keon Ellis – intense, but nm, he only sees spot minutes.
This team, IMO, plays hard. They just don’t play particular well. Or, too often, particularly smart.
It’s not a culture problem. It’s an unbalanced roster problem.
Hammer hit nail
I admire Russ’s career and his love of the game, but honestly the teams best players are the culture setters, its great to have vets to help young players learn good habits and about the league but time has shown that if your best players don’t set the culture your team isn’t going far
Nice win…I think.. Nique will be a nice player, I think Raynaud will develops to a nice serviceable player.. Carter is horrible and I sure wish we had Tristan Da Silva, Kel’el Ware … I am sorry for hating but have not seen anything from Carter that gives me hope. Also sure would have been nice to have LaRavia and or another person vs Schroeder especially after signing Westbrook… I guess I should just shut up and be happy with the win!
I keep gong back to the head scratching move to sign Schröder so quickly to an overpaid contract when it now seems Perry just could have signed Westbrook and used the Schröder money, plus the McDermott money, to sign a legit 3/4 backup. The team would be so much better off. Hell, they could have simply made a legit offer to Kuminga and forced the Dubs hand. Schröder and McDermott’s contracts combine for $18.4M. That’s good money that now seems wasted. As an example, DFS signed with Dallas for $13.1M. Would be nice to have him right now.
I know so many people here love Ellis, I love his effort. I love his story. He seems like an awesome dude, but he disappears on offense. He needs to take some shots and not disappear offensively
I get it, but there are only so many shots to be had when you share the court with the likes of LaVine, DDR, Monk, Schröder, and now Westbrook.
Also, Ellis is a very good spot up shooter, but the Kings don’t really run an offense that benefits him. The dudes attacking the paint are looking to score instead of kicking it out to open shooters. It could be why McDermott isn’t getting any minutes. He’s only valuable if you get him open spot up shots within a system using things like off ball screen or the DHO. This Kings team just doesn’t play that way anymore. It’s become very read and react.
Assuming Keon does not stay nor return to Sacramento, where do you see his fit best?
For me – I could see him seamlessly included in Minnesota (West Coast) or Miami (East Coast)
He’d absolutely kill in in Golden State. I don’t think you could convince me the Dubs wouldn’t trade either Buddy or Podz for him right now if they could. He’s the perfect hybrid of Gary Payton II and Buddy. A very good PO defender and 40% from three.
Put Keon out there with Curry, Jimmy and Green? Yikes.
Denver as well. Maybe Clippers. (DJJr, Nic Batum, though Keon is a SG version, SF version).
Minny as he seems to fit the Jaden (not Jalen) McDaniel, Nickeil Alexander-Walker (now ATL) role.
Any team that values spot up shooters who defend. The ol’ classic 3 & D.
Basically any competent contending team would highly value his skillset. OKC has a roster full of guys like Keon. Imagine if the Lakers had him instead of giving Smart near 30 minutes a night.
I still like Keon for Eason.
We know Jack, but it isn’t happening. Doesn’t work contractually anyway.
It does work. Kings get Tari Eason and trade exception and Rockets get Keon Ellis and second round pick.
I don’t believe so Jack. The Kings are over the cap so they can only take back 125% of any salary they send out. Eason is at $5.6M and Ellis is at just $2.3M. They can only make that kind of trade if they have the BAE or MLE, and I don’t believe they have either. From what I recall they used the full MLE to sign Schröder at $14.1M.
Even if they could somehow within the rules, it would put them into the tax, as they are just $1.2M below that line. Vivek isn’t going to do that.
Portland Trailblazers!
You know, the team that actually defends 94 feet and tries to run you out of the gym? Watch them, they’re fun.
Which makes the comment by Doug that he wants Keegan to shoot 10 3pt shots a game even klmore ludicrous. Which of the vets is going to give up their shots?
Keon and Keegan should get a high number of 3pt shots each game, but I just don’t see it happening.
Yup. LaVine, DDR, Schröder, Westbrook, and Monk are currently taking 70.2 FGA of the Kings 88.1 FGA per game. That is 79.6% of the shots. Add in Sabonis’ 11.5 FGA (which is his lowest as a King) and we are at 81.6 FGA.
That leaves 6.5 FGA for Keegan and Keon to fight over.
solid points there on Ellis disappearing on offense..
When I see the likes of Ellis I think of someone like Alex Caruso, a solid role player who fits really well on a championship caliber team. If the the Kings lack the wisdom to utilize him maybe they could deal him for another player who could contribute, kind of like a Josh Giddey type player. Sadly I see things not playing him as its not like defense is a priority of the current head coach, or like I said trading for a piece that would help this team. They will probably choose option C and let him go as a free agent then listen to management and local media spin it when he gets signed to a smart team and plays well else where
Good take. The Giddey or Caruso trade is a fair comp. If, in fact, Ellis is not part of the Kings plans, they should realize that he has value in the league. The problem is, Keon’s contract won’t bring anything back of value. An expiring $2.3M deal won’t bring back squat. Giddey for Caruso worked for both teams because their salaries matched up.
I would imagine the Kings would need to attach a contract to Keon to bring back value. Keon plus Monk or Keon plus DDR to a team that no only values Keon but is also willing to extend him while taking on a bad Kings deal. Then again, that likely diminishes the return.
The Keon contract and role situation is just another Kangz blunder.
Kings Win! (haka warrior) Dance!
Isaac Jones claimed off waivers.
Good for IJ. I’m a bit surprised he was claimed off waivers, but I’m guessing if he had cleared then he would be eligible for the vet minimum? The deal the Kings gave him was a dirt cheap rookie contract.
Or they wanted him and didn’t want some other team to claim him
For sure, but this also means the Pistons have given up on bringing back Malik Beasley and have added to an already deep big man bench. Pistons are good this year, but they are weak in the off guard spot. It makes me wonder if they have more plans down the pike.
I’ve said it before, but if there were a team that would take on LaVine’s deal, it would be the Pistons. They could really use his shooting and scoring. Come mid-December Tobias Harris and Duncan Robinson for LaVine works cap wise.
How about Tobias Harris and Isiah Stewart?
Detroit hangs up the phone. Isaiah Stewart is having a hell of a year and is on a very good contract. There are folks in Detroit that want him starting next to Duren. Many up there value him like many of us value Keegan. Solid 3 and D player.
Just a thought.
Hell yeah. I will follow his career with great interest.
Neil Young was way ahead of his time when he boldly proclaimed 56 years ago that Russ never sleeps.
Golden Pizza Guys! Turn that beam golden guys, alternate beam color! I need a shirt with a slice of pizza that’s melting from the hot golden beam piercing through the center!
Good for Russ, I like to make fun of him but I really want him and the Kings to succeed and prove me wrong. As soft as the Kings have been forever it’s good to have a guy who plays hard all the time.
Beating the Dubs and Lakers are both 10X value wins.
Hey that Westbrook guy, he’s pretty good eh?
Hey, i saw them once defend 94 ft by playing a full court press, leading to an 8 sec violation. Great success!
Those full court passes that were pin point accurate were a lot of fun to watch. I’m only watching the highlights this season, but Russ is a walking highlight reel, for better or worse.
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