The Clippers haven’t had the best of luck since trading for James Harden. The team hasn’t won a game in the time since.
Not only are the Clippers winless, but LA has also been one of the worst teams in the NBA in that stretch. That’s not an exaggeration. Through the last six games, the Clippers’ -9.8 net rating is the 29th worst in the league. The only team with a worse net rating is the Spurs (-18.9) and that’s after San Antonio lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder by 36 points.
So, yeah. The James Harden era is not going great in LA right now. Something has to give. It turns out that something — or someone, rather — is Russell Westbrook.
Westbrook is coming off the bench to shake things up, according to a report from Chris Haynes.
Los Angeles Clippers star Russell Westbrook – the vocal leader of the team – has requested to come off bench to help the first unit establish some continuity, league sources tell @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport. pic.twitter.com/mMNwzDZ9w0
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) November 17, 2023
While it seems that Westbrook might be alright with this transition from Haynes’ reporting, things might not have actually gone that smoothly.
According to another report from The Athletic’s Law Murray, the organization is reportedly one coming from the organization. Players and coaches on the staff might not totally agree, Murray writes.
“The decision to bring Westbrook off of the bench is not one that the players or coaches would have wanted. Lue wanted to establish Westbrook as the primary ball handler when he shared the floor with Harden, with Harden being the shooting guard. But Harden’s discomfort shooting 3s off of the catch became a recurring theme, along with his passive approach to scoring that led Lue to say Harden was being “too polite” after a bad loss Sunday against the Memphis Grizzlies.”
Yikes, man. That’s not a great look. The Clippers are moving Russ to the bench because James Harden refuses to change his game and play without the ball.
He’s passed up open catch-and-shoot 3-pointer opportunities like this one.
Presented without comment. pic.twitter.com/bu5eEb31GH
— Coach Gibson Pyper (@HalfCourtHoops) November 9, 2023
Harden says it’s because he hasn’t gotten used to getting those sorts of catch-and-shoot shots after his time in Houston where he created everything offensively for his team. But this is different now. He has to shoot those shots. He knows it.
So I noticed that James Harden will dribble out of catch-and-shoot 3s. Did it Monday night and I called it out when I broke the tape down. He did it again tonight, resulting in a Mikal Bridges block.
Thought James was good at describing how he needs to just shoot the damn ball. pic.twitter.com/32DvR5SSMJ
— Law Murray 🧾 (@LawMurrayTheNU) November 9, 2023
He just couldn’t do it. He hasn’t done it yet. Now, Westbrook’s role has to shift because of it. That’s not a great look.
