'Wouldn't Touch Him In A Million Years': NBA Front Office on Russell Westbrook

The rumors about Russell Westbrook's future continue to swirl. There don't appear to be any credible leads that any NBA team is seriously interested in signing him. In fact, after hearing that a former coach of his told the Miami Heat to "stay away", we're now getting a doubling down on that type of sentiment. 

According to a current anonymous NBA scout who spoke to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Heat should absolutely not even think about adding Westbrook. 

I wouldn’t touch him in a million years. You can’t rely on him in terms of what’s going to happen. Yeah, he’ll have, you know, great games. Sure. But he can’t shoot. He plays his own way. He’s not going to fit into a system. He doesn’t really defend. 

I mean, yeah, he’ll put up some numbers and he’ll win you some games. In terms of truly building a winning team, you don’t get him on your team.

Despite a relatively successful season with the Sacramento Kings in 2025-26, the team said after the season they had no interest in bringing the nine-time All-Star back for the coming year. He has since been loosely linked to the Heat, the Houston Rockets and even his alma mater, the Oklahoma City Thunder. But there are no credible reports that any of those teams are serious about signing him. 

And yet former longtime NBA All-Star Joe Johnson has recently come out singing Russ's praises, and insisting that the Rockets, for one, should definitely give Russ a look. 

“If I'm the Houston Rockets, I’m taking that gamble," Johnson said, per si.com. "Fred VanVleet, I’m sure he will start this season, but he just came off of ACL surgery. Y’all going to run him in the ground for 82 games? What is he going to be able to get you in the postseason? Nothing.

“You gotta have some depth at that point guard position. Guys who know how to play, guys who know and understand the game, and who can make the game easy for guys around him. When you look at him because he is up in age, he is always in great damn shape… I’m giving that a chance.”

And while Kenny Thomas, another former NBA player also spoke out in favor of the Rockets giving Westbrook a look, the last we checked, neither Johnson nor Thomas were members of the Rockets' front office, nor were they being consulted on player personnel decisions. 

So for now, Westbrook is still out there for the taking. In the meantime, he does have interest from a couple of big-name teams overseas.