I cannot blame these bettors anyways. There's a reason why the Lakers have been trying hard to unload Westbrook even before the start of the season due to his declining stats. Westbrook is really not that bad of a player, but his $46 million salary this year made him bad. The Clippers made a huge gamble because if Westbrook performs well, they will have the advantage of re-signing him again and they can also let him go next season if he becomes unwanted. At least the Clippers' gamble is only good for a year although still very costly.
Not costly at all. His contract is veteran minimum since the Jazz bought him out already. The Clippers are taking very little risk while giving a chance to Westbrook to showcase his strength when not under heavy criticism by fans. Maybe he will improve Clippers, maybe not. But this is his chance that he still deserves a good contract in NBA.
It's gonna be a wild wild west again this time. Everyone for sure have eyes on the Western conference. The Suns may never make a huge impact on Durant acquisition for the remainder of the season, but come playoffs, they will definitely be one of the hardest if not the hardest team to beat in the West.
Imo, they are not just really strong on papers, but they could make it work this time, most probably.
Hopefully then can blend together because they really are one of the teams you need to watch out this season. They are already a contender team before they acquire Durant. And now that they have him, they are more dangerous. What I only see the problem will be is their defense. But if they can fix that, they are the team to beat and maybe Durant can finally get his 3rd ring.
