Mavs Among NBA Betting Favorites to Sign Russell Westbrook in Free Agency

After essentially going the entire 2022-23 season without a true third ball-handler, the Dallas Mavericks appear to be in the running to have a former MVP assume that role heading into next season ... at least according to some early betting odds.

Dalton Trigg | May 6, 2023

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Dallas Mavericks

After the Dallas Mavericks surged to a Western Conference Finals appearance nearly one year ago, the front office seemed to quickly forget how the team was able to accomplish such a feat based on how personnel decisions were made last offseason.

Yes, the Mavs desperately need a true big man at center grabbing rebounds and protecting the rim – something they've lacked since Tyson Chandler's two separate stints with Dallas in 2011 and 2015 – and they could also use some more wing depth as well. However, it was the three-headed point guard monster of Luka Doncic, Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie that pushed the Mavs to within three wins of making the NBA Finals.

After losing Brunson to the New York Knicks in free agency, the Mavs elevated Dinwiddie to being the team's second ball-handler behind Doncic. Dinwiddie filled that role nicely, but Dallas suffered from not addressing the third ball-handler role seriously throughout the 2022-23 season. Trading for Kyrie Irving greatly upgraded the Mavs' second ball-handler role, but the same gap was still there due to Dinwiddie being sent to the Brooklyn Nets in that trade.

So how could the Mavs avoid this same issue heading into next season? Perhaps adding former MVP Russell Westbrook in to the mix could be the answer.

According to Bookies.com, the Mavs (+500) have the third-best odds to sign Westbrook in free agency this summer, sitting behind only the Los Angeles Clippers (+400) and the Orlando Magic (+450). Other teams making the list include the Chicago Bulls (+525), Houston Rockets (+800), San Antonio Spurs (+1000) and Miami Heat (+1000).

Splitting time between the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers this season, Westbrook averaged 15.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 7.5 assists per game while shooting 43.6 percent from the field and 31.1 percent on 3s. In the playoffs, where the Clippers lost to the Phoenix Suns in five games in the first round, Westbrook upped his production in the absences of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George by averaging 23.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.4 blocks while shooting 41 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from deep.

At 34 years old, Westbrook certainly isn't the same player he was in his prime, but he's shown that he still has a lot left in the tank when put in the right situation. The Mavs have to worry about re-signing Irving before they can focus on who the team's third ball-handler will be next season, but if a point-guard trio of Doncic, Brunson and Dinwiddie got the Mavs to the West Finals, then one has to wonder what a trio of Doncic, Irving and Westbrook could potentially do.

Follow Dalton Trigg on Twitter @dalton_trigg.

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Published May 6, 2023

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.