According to FOX Sports, the Indiana Pacers could be a solid landing spot for Russell Westbrook, who is currently a free agent and spent last season with the Denver Nuggets. However, even with Tyrese Haliburton out for all of next year while recovering from his Achilles injury, signing Westbrook isn’t a great idea for Indiana. But FOX Sports disagrees:
“If Carlisle thinks a change is needed or injury presents itself, Westbrook can slide into the starting five,” they wrote. “Westbrook thrived in a split sixth-man-starter role with the Nuggets last season, averaging 13.3 points, 6.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 27.9 minutes per contest (75 regular-season games, 36 starts); he solely came off the bench in the postseason.”
The Pacers should stray away from Westbrook.
Why the Pacers shouldn’t sign Russell Westbrook?
Westbrook’s value comes in the form of his ball-handling. He knows how to run an offense. And when he’s off the ball, he can cut and constantly knows where to be on the floor to maximize his talent.
But in the case of the Pacers, that skill set isn’t really needed, especially with how many other guards they currently have on the roster. Indiana should prioritize giving out minutes to the players they already have on board.
With Haliburton sidelined, Andrew Nembhard will have a chance to take on a much larger role—one that he looked ready for during the Pacers’ run to the NBA Finals last year.
He should be the leader of the Pacers’ offense, and behind him, Indiana already has plenty of guys capable of stepping into big roles.
TJ McConnell was awesome during the postseason, so he’s an obvious choice to be Indiana’s backup, and rookie Kam Jones should be in line for some minutes, too. The Pacers even have some guards on two-way contracts who could earn some minutes: Taelon Peter and Quenton Jackson.
Add in the fact that Indiana has some guys who can play down to the two guard (Bennedict Mathurin, Ben Sheppard, Aaron Nesmith, and Johnny Furphy), and there’s just not much room for Westbrook in the rotation.
That said, adding a guy who runs as much as Westbrook could be fun for a team that likes to play as fast as the Pacers do. From a style perspective, he could make some sense.
However, there are just too many players the Pacers should want to take a look at on the roster. They should prioritize playing some of their younger guys rather than adding Westbrook to their roster in a year where title hopes may not be as realistic (because of Haliburton’s absence).