As much as things have gone awry for the Denver Nuggets so far this season, one thing that has gone unequivocally right is the Russell Westbrook experiment. After a slow start, it’s safe to say Russ has found his role and fit right in. 28 games in, the Westbrook experience in Denver has been a rousing success.
The Nuggets’ decision to sign the former MVP in the offseason was met with a lot of criticism. NBA media’s general sentiment was that Denver was making a mistake, bringing in a toxic player who would monopolize the offense and wouldn’t contribute to winning.
The skepticism was fair; Russ had fallen out of favor at his last two stops with the Lakers and Clippers. Neither team was ever able to fully embrace Westbrook and find a way to accentuate his strengths while covering up his weaknesses.
There was a growing belief that Russ would never be able to change his ways and that he couldn’t take on a smaller role while still impacting winning. Most around the league had given up on Westbrook and that’s a big part of the reason the Nuggets were even able to sign him in the first place.
Nuggets allowing Westbrook to be himself in ways past teams never did
The biggest key to the success of the Russ experiment has simply been allowing him to be himself. Other teams have tried to change Russ, to make him play without the ball, to have him simply be a second-unit guy, to harness his energy. The Nuggets have largely done the opposite.
They have embraced all the good things Russ can do and given him the freedom to do them. As a result, the Nuggets have gotten an elite competitor and leader, someone who brings an unrivaled energy to the game. They are allowing Westbrook to come in and run the offense and he has provided much-needed creation and playmaking.
Russ has also brought intensity on the defensive end and still provides as good of point-of-attack defense on the perimeter as just about anyone on the roster. He’s also flying around making plays on that end and has come up with several clutch blocks this season.
Rather than staggering Russ with the team’s best players, the Nuggets have paired them together and found great success. Westbrook has looked great alongside Nikola Jokic and has been feeding easy buckets to the big man in a way we haven’t seen.
Russ has been so good that Michael Malone is having a hard time keeping him on the floor and Russ has been in the closing lineup more often than not. In fact, in games where Jamal Murray sits and Russ starts, the Nuggets are 5-1 while they are just 11-11 with Murray in the lineup.
To take it a step further, of every 5-man lineup in the NBA that has played at least 98 minutes together, the Nuggets’ starters with Westbrook in place of Murray have the best net rating of any group in the league (+28.1).
I’m not advocating for Westbrook to replace Murray in the starting lineup (yet), although many fans have. It’s pretty amazing that Russ has played well enough to make it a discussion and it’s scary to think where Denver would be without Westbrook this season.
They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and for a future Hall of Fame player, Russ has been discarded like trash by his past few teams. But that’s all in the past now. Russ has found a home in Denver and the fans have taken to him immediately. In a disappointing season, Westbrook has been a revelation and a bright spot for the Nuggets.