YIBADA

NBA trade rumors: Nuggets to acquire Russell Westbrook? Mudiay, Faried can be used as bait

| Jul 25, 2016 10:26 PM EDT

Russell Westbrook drives to the basket against Emmanuel Mudiay at the Pepsi Center last Jan. 19, 2016.

The future of Russell Westbrook with the Oklahoma City Thunder is still unsure at the moment. The latest rumors suggest that he may still be traded and the Denver Nuggets could make an interesting offer.

According to Zach Mikash of Denver Stiffs, the Nuggets may have a chance to convince the Thunder to trade Westbrook to Denver. He suggested three different trade scenarios that both teams can explore if they wanted to.

The first proposal involves Denver sending Emmanuel Mudiay, Will Barton, Joffrey Lauvergne and Kenneth Faried to Oklahoma City for Westbrook. This deal brings in a future point guard to replace the five-time All-Star while Barton and Lauvergne will form a great bench with Enes Kanter.

Faried, on the other hand, will be the starting power forward to pair with center Steven Adams. However, Sam Presti and the Thunder might not be convinced by this deal because Mudiay is the only player with a huge upside.

The second and third trade suggestions have Danilo Gallinari replacing Lauvergne and Barton. It is a much better proposition but the Thunder will likely want some of the Nuggets young players such as Nikola Jokic, Gary Harris or Jamal Murray.

It should be noted that these are just mere suggestions but not impossible. According to Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman, there is a big chance that Westbrook stays in Oklahoma City. He is reportedly "ticked off" with Kevin Durant's departure and he is looking to prove that KD made the wrong decision.

It is a big challenge for the 27-year-old point guard, who is one of the top five players in the NBA. He will have a new athletic backcourt mate in Victor Oladipo with Kanter and Adams picking up the slack of Serge Ibaka's trade.

The Thunder still do not have a replacement for Durant but they have been linked with Rudy Gay for the past couple of weeks. They are still a playoff team with Westbrook but they are not considered as title contenders.

On the other hand, the Nuggets may become aggressive since they are looking for a superstar to lead their team. They already have a great core of players and will need one big name to make them playoff contenders.

Check out the video below for Westbrook's Top 10 plays of the 2015-16 season.

Related News

Most Popular

EDITOR'S PICK