After a terrific tenure with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Russell Westbrook landed in Houston to join forces with James Harden and the Rockets. The star point guard has been struggling in his first season with Houston, leading people to doubt if the team made the right decision when they sent Chris Paul and draft picks to OKC for him.
Right now he’s averaging 24.6 points, 7.7 rebounds and 7 assists per outing, similar to his career averages. However, Russ has decreased his quality from deep, shooting 23.1% while his career average is 30.4%
Of course, he’s never been famous for his threes, but beyond that, the things he’s shown on the court this campaign aren’t the best.
The All-Star game voting is active right now and people are trying to take their favorite players to the big game in Chicago. Russ has been a perennial All-Star, but this season things look very different for him.
His level has been so irregular that analysts are doubtful of a possible call for Brodie to the All-Star game. One of those is ESPN’s Zach Lowe, who doesn’t believe Westbrook is an All-Star this year.
During a recent episode of his ‘The Lowe Post’ podcast, he discussed the Western Conference All-Stars with Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck, stating that Westbrook doesn’t deserve a spot in the biggest weekend of the season.
While Beck tried to make the case for Russ saying he’s been helpful for the Rockets, even though they aren’t better than they were with Chris Paul, he stated that for the purpose of the ASG, picking Russ was a good decision, as to what Lowe replied:
“There is no statistical case for Russell Westbrook to make the All-Star team,” Lowe said.
Then, he compared his numbers to Donovan Mitchell and Devin Booker’s, claiming those two deserved a spot more than the 2017 NBA MVP.
“Russell Westbrook’s advanced stats are horrible. They’re way below these other guys’. The Rockets are good because of James Harden, that’s why the Rockets are good. (…) In the absence of others compelling statistics saying that Russell Westbrook is an All-Star, I looked, and I cannot find a statistical case for Russell Westbrook to make the All-Star team.”
Even though he’s posting decent numbers when we talk about points, rebounds, and assists, Russ isn’t making the same impact he made in OKC. This was expected given his style of play and James Harden’s, but Rockets fans surely expected more from him this term.
Lowe has a solid point there, as Brodie doesn’t look like an All-Star this season.
