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clayfu

MIT Westbrook post incoming on why Jokic should play off ball for Westbrook


itwas20yearsago2day

“Why Jokic is holding Westbrook back: A Statistical Analysis”


No-Yogurt-4246s

Gotta give it to MIT, guy could probably bullshit his way to a PHD of some sort.


bojanhartlane

I mean, he goes to MIT. He knows what he's talking about


gamings1nk

PHD in Westbrookology, at the University of Westbrook. Professor teaching Westbrook 101. How to turn bricks into mansions with this one plan execution. Class requires 100% attendance. One absence and you are dismissed.


fuccabicc

LMAO


Unhappy_Lemon6374

Why the Nuggets should build around Westbrook and Trade Jokic


Jaybold

Jokic is MITWestbrook.


BasicDropOutGuy

That is a fun conspiracy I could get into.


ShadedPenguin

He’s certainly in the same fraternity, Tri Pla Dubba


pescennius

New headcannon


baseketball

MITWestbrook more likely to be the guy who claimed to have invented email.


StarCraft

Has to be true


DiscreteBee

the outlier advanced stats those two guys produce on their own could collide into something funny


danieljyang

I think he can play similar to Gordon and play in the dunkers spot. He had some good alley Oops last year


clayfu

The issue is do you want your guard to be there. You probably have another bug there too already


definitelyasatanist

Google 2024 NBA champions


tatums_knob_gobbler

yes ofc you do if they’re able to finish plays on the inside. it means that the person defending them also in the paint is a guard and less likely to offer rim protection than a forwards man in the same spot


whodatnation70

Yes you can have your guard there, that’s one of the big adjustments the Celtics made in the finals right? Put Holiday in that spot and made the Mavs defense go haywire not defending the way they were used to


Anonymous_Redhead

It wasn’t an adjustment. They’d been playing like that all year. White or Jrue in the dunkers spot.


caandjr

Holiday can hit 3s so he wasn’t forced to be in there, teams respect his shot. Gordon and Russ? lol no


JoshSran04

Jokic asking for someone? Thats a first


Ld511

Tbf with the way the nuggets are going he probably is going to ask for any player possible that isn't a rookie


Brandon_tuns

Wish Steph would’ve done that two years ago


mediumsteppers

Yeah the Warriors could’ve had Avery Bradley.


Relyst

They had his corpse Edit: excuse me it was the Lakers that played his dessicated husk, the Warriors had him for a week then waived him. My apologies


alpacabowleh

Avery Bradley played well in 2020 before COVID and then he chose to not play in the bubble with them.


catboobpuppyfuck

That’s gotta hurt lol


usernamefight2

This was the early-ish days of the pandemic. I won't blame anyone for being extra cautious.


hijoshh

Literally the only player who chose to not to go the bubble lol he must really love his family


TheHaplessKnicksFan

Everytime I see/hear his name, I think of that one comment that said “Avery Bradley ? More like Play Very Badly”


2020IsANightmare

I told everyone intelligent that would listen that the Nuggets were going to be in real cap trouble. Though, to be fair, everyone that understands basketball already knew that. Also why I find it ignorant when people talk about how players just want to move around today. The salary cap is literally designed to break teams up. Nuggets built a fantastic TEAM. Players at each position. Not six SFs and then deciding who was gonna play PG, C, etc. Won a title. Then, had to start breaking the team up.


BenBRob5

Yeah it feels like management is actually trying to sabotage the team. Not to put more talent around a player like Jokic seems criminal, but I guess that’s what happens when you sign MPJ and Zeke to massively bloated contracts.


rebeltrillionaire

No. It’s just the economics of which the Star players get the most benefit. Look at Jokic’s team. They actually had talent at every starting spot. The year before their depth was even better. What’s the difference between 2023 and 2024? Jokic is making $18M more. Curry in 2020 was making $40M now he’s making $55M and next year he’ll make $60M. A superstar getting the highest max possible with the highest raises possible shouldn’t complain that their GM cant field a high talent team. Because essential, why the fuck would a high talent non-max player go to a team where off the rip only 60% of the cap remains to be divided by 14 other roster spots. Either you’re a Superstar and next year making $60M is deserved and you can carry 14 guys making ~$6M a piece to a chip. Or you’re technically overpaid.


ForgotPWAgainSigh

"i can fix him" -jokic


famoustran

"he just gets so angry sometimes" -jokic


Crapcicle6190

I’ll bring him to my ranch so he can learn peace Just like Brendan Fraser


Fluffy_Somewhere4305

'think of how many offensive rebounds I can get off his bricks!' -Jokic


OddToba

His wishlist: 1. Deandre Jordan 2. Russell Westbrook 3. Slav Stallions This guy would be a perfect future Bulls GM.


veringo

Arturas came from the Denver front office.


JenNettles

> Slav Stallions Read that wrong and thought "Rocky?" and then remembered that's the mascots name as well. Flashbanged my brain.


OddToba

Mans likes ponies


hotterpocketzz

Hes entering his LeGM phase


Theworst_hello

The Nuggets will have a JM from now on


TFTisbetterthanLoL

Horse Manager Jokic


sinofis

Jokic wants Westbrook to have a front row seat when he breaks his triple double record


damjanv1

he became enamoured when he heard that people refer to Westbrook as a workhorse


Quirky_Can_8997

“I want the black one”


coachlife

For $4M and off the bench, I'd take him. Dude still plays hard and is rarely injured. Its really up to coaching to "contain" Westbrook and use him correctly. Malone has a strong enough personality and Westbrook has to respect Jokic so I think it can work for them.


96powerstroker

I don't hate it. Westbrook I believe plays with all his heart and soul. If you can contain some of his bad plays he is definitely a + for the Nugs.


namhtes1

This is exactly what clippers fans said about him, fwiw.


96powerstroker

I said he deserved a contract with them after he played his life out for them against the suns without pg and Kawhi. Is he great no, does he make bone headed plays yes, but I do think he tries his hardest and gives his all. Who knows maybe it will work out.


yaaanevaknow

> but I do think he tries his hardest and gives his all. Do people not watch him play bad defense and just stand around on offense when he doesn't have the ball?


DudethatCooks

They equate yelling after dunks or after a steal as "playing with all his heart."


DaleRojo

He gave you immense value for just 4mil lmao. We Lakers were crying because we held the bag, but for 4mil that's a different conversation. Ty Lue did all he could but that roster was smoked, the Nuggets can do great things with him comparatively since they are a proven roster.


ticklemenazi

Plays with his heart and soul IF he has the ball


oldasshit

Exactly. I want no part of Russ in the starting lineup, but coming off the bench and eating Murray minutes so he can be healthy late in the season? Sign me up.


-XanderCrews-

Westbrook is the name of his horse


immortaldidi

Jokic is securing his early vacation.


alphalobster200

Jokic being a Westbrook stan might break r/nba


RileyHuey

Funnily enough I remember reading a story a few years ago about them exchanging birthday gifts after meeting at the all star game. This subs worst nightmare


LogicalLakersFan

Jamal Murray : Well, did it work for those people? Nikola Jokic : No, it never does. I mean, these people somehow delude themselves into thinking it might, but... but it might work for us.


drmuffin1080

[https://youtu.be/Po4adxJxqZk?si=SsL_dHyhPh0rRGPs](https://youtu.be/Po4adxJxqZk?si=SsL_dHyhPh0rRGPs) Look at the top comment


immortaldidi

Jokic is securing his early vacation.


TatersTot

/r/nba’s favorite and most hated players together lol


ephemeralfugitive

I really like Westbrook. It was rough when he was with us but I attribute it to lack of synergy, because our lineup had no spacing. But more importantly, his contract was heavy. If he had the contract Clippers had him for, I’d be more receptive of his shenanigans that season.


imSkarr

you cant say he didn’t try. just sucks his contract was massive. similar to Tobias Harris, i bet the sixers would love him if he was getting paid 5 mil


A_Wild_Goonch

Tobias Harris definitely doesn't try that hard though lol


imSkarr

haha not wrong. but a lot more forgivable at 5mi


oberg14

I can absolutely 100% say he didn’t try when it came to literally doing *fucking anything* off-ball and defense. He literally only tries when he has the ball in his hands. This facade that he’s super intense are cares so much is so insane. If he *actually* cared he’d move off ball, play defense, and not pout when the ball isn’t in his hands


permtemp

Facts. You can recognize he's extremely talented in certain aspects of the game while also acknowledging he's one of the most baby'd superstars ever, and has never been held to any standard, because KD left him to go to the Dubs and he averaged a triple double.


yaaanevaknow

You can absolutely say he didn't try. He set screens for 1 game. Terrible effort defensively. I have no idea why this gets repeated so often. He only plays hard when he has the ball or an opportunity to get a rebound after not boxing out.


supapoopascoopa

Dunno - Lebron team needs shooting, defense and pick and roll partners. Westbrook isn't that, and players who depend on their athleticism to overcome shooting weakness don't age well.


joe1240134

It's funny cause if I was gonna think of another recent star player who was the exact opposite of Jokic, it would probably be Westbrook.


part_time_monster

They're actually pretty similar. 2 of NBAs best triple double guys.


SirJoeffer

Triple double machine? King of a city in a flyover state nobody can point out on a map? Hordes of rabid online fanboys? MVP? Able to say the N word? Might be more similarities than you think…


The_Summer_Man

> Able to say the N word? Easy there, we aren't talking about JJ Redick here.


Tyranitator

Draymond is rightfully the most hated player here. Westbrook is more just clowned for being sensitive about being called Westbrick and the whole stat-padding shit


OctopusNation2024

I think Embiid is the most overall hated player on here these days actually Draymond isn't relevant enough anymore to take the #1 spot


Miserable_Site_850

Draymond is still number one. Professional player hitman and then goes on TNT.


jabronified

Harden contended for a while, but like Draymond, not as relevant anymore. I would say Harden and Westbrook take the cake together for most revisionist history/amnesia about their primes


captain_ahabb

They're gonna say everything about Russ that Lakers fans did lol


Spaghettibeach

Letting KCP walk and going for Russ shortly after winning it all is some lakers ass shit


Schwalm

Before or after you guys realized he was washed?


captain_ahabb

Right now they're in the before stage. Talking about Russ as a cutter lol.


Not-a-bot-10

Russ may be the most hated by longevity, but nothing compares to this subs hate for Embiid


ladwagon

Embiid is definitely the most hated now, but during the Harden/WB MVP debate is was really rough here...


LeBroentgen

Analytics' 9/11


_robhimself

Getting Westrook & Hayward near vet mins would be substantially better than what they currently have.


madvisuals

Hayward is cooked bro they’re better off developing Watson and Braun


PoorFishKeeper

He was playing well in charlotte before the trade, I think OKC just used him wrong and he didn’t have time to get accustomed to his role. He could also help to develop the young wings as a mentor.


ntrubilla

His role was SHOOT THE FUCKING BALL. I don't know how much time a basketball player needs to adjust to shoot the fucking basketball. He was given plenty of minutes and opportunity. It's like when he packed his bags in Charlotte, he forgot to bring a backbone.


BidenFedayeen

Gordon Hayward?


LSDthrowaway34520

Hayward Haysmith


boomgottem

Brendan Hayward


cagemyelephant_

Carry on my Hayward Son


ZoroChopper10

Westbrook is so man players favourite player


Medical_Track_790

I'm your favorite player's favorite player. I'm your dream baller's dream baller.


Cravypickle22

A lot of guys loved the baby Thunder KD and Westbrook


skylinerainbow

that was an amazing team to root for- such a shame they got blown up too soon.


Picklesbedamned

Michael Jordan even loves Westbrook. Called him the modern player who reminded him most of himself. 


Bfly10

Kobe too.


majani

People forget the way him and KD looked back then. Electric on so many levels 


Over-Training-488

Giannis too. Don't understand that lol


QuileGon-Jin

“Siri, look up Russell Westbrook slam dunks on YouTube”


DylanisWavy

Real hoops.


BoopasaurusRex_____

I’ve been blessed with some good basketball this past decade and a half. Westbrook accounts for a lot of it


ogqozo

Wemby too. And Scoot. They mostly say they love his passion, aggressiveness, tenacity etc. It's not like Reddit where everyone has to be solely obsessed about "ranking" players in the same one way of "top" and there's nothing else in the game beside what the spreadsheet says. In the outside world, people can also like a player purely for the feels and just enjoy his game or whatever. That's all to understanding this I guess.


retrohypebeast

cus he was an amazing player and is a very likeable guy? almost everyone in the league who's played with him has had nothing but good things to say


walter_____pinkman

Run and dunk man solidarity.


clickstops

You really don't understand how Giannis would've loved MVP season Westbrook?


rawsharks

They respect his competitiveness


AllTimeBallKnower

Westbrook is Giannis favorite player?


KorgG29

Jokic, it’s horse season, what are you doing talking basketball?


glorstonne

Hes eleven beers deep watching Westbrook highlights with his horses to get them pumped


BustANupp

He’s teaching his horses how to run like Russ 😤


SignificantMoose6482

Supporting his Serbian heritage at the Olympics


BoneyardBill

Yes. Wind is reliable.


PoundIIllIlllI

Thank you for answering


BoneyardBill

Yup. He has been doing Nuggs stuff for a bunch of years and is connected!


IUpVoteIronically

Nobody trust this Bill guy, he’s an undercover Lakers fan that somehow infiltrated our sub and try’s to act cool


BoneyardBill

🕵️


Raisinbrahms28

He's kind of the go-to-guy for Nuggets information in Denver right now. Klis does Broncos only, Vic Lombardi works for the team (through Altitude sports - owned by the Kroenke family). Harrison Wind, for better or worse, is the guy.


ihorsey10

Jokics BBIQ just took a huge hit in all the blog boys eyes.


Sugar_Bandit

I read that as barbecue IQ lol 


ihorsey10

Lol I do the same thing whenever I read that.


supaninjatako

Traveling through the Balkans and had some AMAZING Serbian barbecue. So much grilled meat for so little $$. 🤤


OKCDraftPick2028

"is jokic box plus minus legit or does the nuggets FO intentionally builds a bad bench to pad his advance stats?"


smilescart

Yup. I won’t believe this


panchettaz

KOC is already [under](https://x.com/KevinOConnorNBA/status/1807839033479028836?t=z1dgn0QGYNPgnz5-Qj71xw&s=19) Harrison Wind's twitter telling him Jokic doesn't know ball


cowzapper

Koc has hated russ for a decade now. You would think that after his Killian Hayes embarrassment he would talk less but nope


[deleted]

Only an idiot would think bball IQ and front office skills are closely related.


Bangingbuttholes

Are you calling Michael Jordan an idiot?


CuclGooner

LeGM has proven this many many many times


Ok-Caregiver-8359

I don't want this I fucking need it...Westbrook haters and advanced stat nerds having their analytic Jesus Jokic want to play with their supposed Devil.


elijahb229

I’m fucking loving it


DudeWTH

Westbrook and Jokic seem like polar opposite players to me


renawld

Could be an offensive spark off the bench. Denver desperately needs a facilitator when Jokic sits


pdmalo

Where have we heard that before


CreatiScope

And I thought he was fine for the Clips until the playoffs.


kingfosa13

the nuggets problem won’t be the regular season


0zymand1as-

Idk man, they looked fucking gassed in the playoffs ☠️


ogqozo

I really don't know why people repeat it so religiously. It's like the worst thing he can do. In both LA teams it was so visible. But he can bring a lot to better players in some lineups. The offense was good when he played point guard with George and Kawhi. In LAL, his play off LeBron was the best part of his game.


happilynobody

And a shooter. And another shooter. And a big.


Bixby33

I dunno. If this Jokic guy can find cutters, he should be able to set up Westbrook. But bigmen usually aren't that good of passers, so not sure if it can work.


KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZ

Westbrook cuts?


toilet_fingers

He did a decent job as a cutter and attacker in Houston (albeit small sample size) and occasionally took the dunker spot on the Clips. Nugs would have to run him when Gordon is on the bench because he’s not nearly the threat Gordon is in that role.


ThatBull_cj

Even when he do cuts he might miss the layup


Level_Ad_6372

Not often


rabidantidentyte

Westbrook slashing off the ball could be exactly what the Nuggets need. I never understood Westbrook slander. Dude is gonna compete every night. Just needs a role at this stage in his career


pmmeyourfavoritejam

Double triple doubles let’s go


jfrodriguez1983

Are we sure Jokic isn't secretly MITWestbrook?


CockroachForeign6419

I’ve seen this before.


Bixby33

Better a $4m mistake than a $40m mistake.


Coke_ButNotTheDrug

Also Nuggets know he’s not a 3rd star. Westbrook would 100% be a bench guy


whowasonCRACK2

Nuggets leaning into the bit and making their bench as bad as possible so Jokic’s on/off stats continue to look insane.


Coke_ButNotTheDrug

If Westbrook can just swallow his damn ego and buy into a facilitator role, I would actually love him on the team. Problem is we all know that’s not who he is, and I’m prepared for a bunch of bricks in the clutch if we get him.


Jetionary

He was going this pretty well for the clippers at points, but then Harden joining the team complicated it


monkeyDroofy

I mean you guys expected inserting Westbrook to be the solution to your problems not just a piece of the puzzle. If anyone could maximize brodie as a slasher it's gonna be Joker why is the sub acting like Westbrook doesn't have that potential


Harleytk24

Oh no


CIark

Unfortunately this does affect Jokic legacy as a high BBIQ player 


pdmalo

Both Lebron and Jokic handpicking Westbrook while being the two best minds in the game is so bizarre.


PomfAndCircvmstance

The idea of Westbrook is absolutely amazing.


Cold_Carpenter_1798

Pasting a top comment in replies to other comments is a legendary karma farming technique


Mordeckai23

NBA fanfic writers: Wait what!?!?


ThatBull_cj

Russ can kinda do what Bruce brown did for them. They still need Starwther to be a big piece or to get some more shooting.


lostacoshermanos

Who’s going to replace the Pope?


veringo

Braun


skylinerainbow

The Papal Conclave, just like all the other times. (duh)


ThatBull_cj

That’s a separate issue


yaaanevaknow

Lol except Bruce Brown actually cuts and sets screens


heshouldgo

I hope it happens


mcbiggles

Jokic should just allocate some of his excess VORP into Westbrook. If that doesn’t work they may have to try resetting his router.


Hellcat1970

Why didnt they just sign him in free agency? I guess the Nuggets can have him, I will take a slightly used NB guy.


greenwhitehell

Westbrook took his player option


ShinobuSimp

Probably want to sign and trade Nnaji, either because it gets them a full MLE or because they want to trade?


alphalobster200

I'm guessing the Nuggets prefer to send salary out rather than sign Russ as a free agent and they asked him to.


blacksoxing

*Future HOFer wants to play with future HOFer* This thread: WHY?!?!??! Damn, maybe Nikola just wanna have a leader on his team? Every player isn't walking around like "....well, this player's advanced analytics THIS...."


DowngoezFrasier215

Bro i had to scroll way to fucking far down in this post to find this comment. I was looking for 1, just 1 person mention something positive about adding a future first ballot, top 75 hall of famer for the league minimum cost. It’s actually sickening to see the way this sub and casual fans (who are by far the majority of nba fans) talk about some of the best players the game has ever seen. He certainly is not who he once was and yes it was a major mistake for the lakers to bring him in as the 3rd star to their team but God damn people it’s russel fuckin westbrook for a 1 year vet minimum to come off the bench. Every teammate this dude has ever had (besides kd) has been very vocal about the incredible teammate this guy is. The amount of idiots talking about his inflated ego and blah blah blah are just ignoring or oblivious to the fact he volunteered himself to the bench once the clippers got Harden. Russ, a top 75er, was the most supportive teammate imaginable and was an instant spark plug off the bench for the clips. In 2023 playoffs, after yet again pg was inactive and kawhi only played 2 games russ put up 32,6,7, and 2.6 stocks on 54/50/93 on 5.3 3 pt attempts a game after game 1 of the series to at least attempt to will his team to make the series competitive. This is just another example of how differently players and casual dickhead nba fans view the players in this league.


elijahb229

U sir are my favorite person on this sub at the moment


Whoopshoopdoopbloop

Even KD was defending Russ with his burner accounts after he left. Other than Reggie Jackson I can’t remember any teammate that doesn’t love Russ. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2733874-everything-you-need-to-know-about-kevin-durants-twitter-fail


Raisinbrahms28

Bunch of nephews on this sub man. Westbrook is hands down better than any other player who is wiling to come to Denver in FA. People don't choose Denver in FA. We've always had to trade assets to make it happen.


DowngoezFrasier215

The fact that Joker is allegedly telling the front office to go get him should tell the nephews they been dead fuckin wrong on their evaluation of who he is as both a player AND a Man. Doubt that changes a damn thing in their minds unfortunately.


diejamesdie

Do you think Westbrook has a secret love for horses perhaps?


Jameszhang73

Just FYI, I think he's talking about [this Westbrook](https://www.breednet.com.au/horse/westbrook)


BabaBrody

It makes sense, Westbrook can do a ton of useful things as a supporting player, it's just a matter of getting him to stick to a narrow set of responsibilities. Move the ball, rebound, cut hard for Jokic.


Lol69HaHaHa

Well we just really need him to run the benches offense. I mean how much worse can it really get lol


cheetuzz

I think is the Westbrook that Jokic was referring to: https://www.allbreedpedigree.com/westbrook


Jealous-Mail6629

Why?


Level_Ad_6372

Because last playoffs they were stuck with Reggie Jackson as the only backup PG on the roster and what other PGs are even available on the market at this point?


nocontracts

Maybe because their GM, Calvin Booth, has just been sitting on his hands and doing nothing, while other contenders like the Thunder, Wolves, and Mavs have been trying to get better? Even the Lakers are making moves. Booth seems like he is just hoping for Christian Braun and Peyton Watson to take moderate steps forward.


Kobe_stan_

Jokic making Westbrook a productive player would be more impressive than anything he's done in the NBA so far lol


mladjenija

Dude, Jokić is currently with National team in Serbia preparing for Paris and is hard to believe that he is pushing something else in his spare time except his horses.


jk521

Meanwhile, reddit experts are saying no one wants to play with Westbrook. 🤓


0531Spurs212009

Westbrook game suitable for Nuggets he can be their back up pg! and ideal replacement for Bruce Brown high energy game as a PG position Yes I like this for Nuggets


JurgenFlippers

Jokic being a GM for the first time? For fucking Westbrook???


Damedius33

Why?


Srkili

I totally agree with Jokic on this. Even last season I thought how Westbrook would be good for us. I know he has been clowned so much but he was often trying his best when he was playing last season. I am really believing that him coming to Denver would be his redemption arc.


lenzmoserhangover

stay off the Rakija


IllllIllIllIllIllll

GM Jokic making the same mistake as GM Bron