Russell Westbrook may soon be returning to the Southeast Division.
Bovada oddsmakers are listing an Eastern Conference team as the favorites this week to sign the former MVP guard Westbrook in free agency — the Miami Heat. Miami is currently listed at +260 to land Westbrook.
Rounding out the top five on Bovada’s odds list are the Dallas Mavericks (+325), the Sacramento Kings (+500), the Golden State Warriors (+750), and the Orlando Magic (+750). You can see the full list here.
Westbrook, who previously played in Miami’s division with the Washington Wizards from 2020-21, is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. The nine-time All-Star holds a $3.5 million player option with the Denver Nuggets for next season but recently decided that he will be turning that option down.
Now 36 years old, Westbrook is a strong floor-raiser, especially now that he is a full-time bench player. He averaged 13.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 6.1 assists per game this season for the Nuggets.
As for the Heat, they don’t have a lot of point guard depth behind Tyler Herro, especially with Davion Mitchell set for restricted free agency this summer. Kyle Anderson, Nikola Jovic, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. all have ball-handling capabilities, but none of them are true point guards.
Miami might be enticing to Westbrook, particularly with the presence of Kevin Love, his former college teammate at UCLA, on the roster. At the very least, the Heat are a far superior option to the other one that just emerged for Westbrook earlier this month.
