The Nuggets have made their position clear on Russell Westbrook and shown that, despite everything he did for them last season, they’d rather move on, even without adding another backup point guard. It’s the right decision for the team, but one thing they won’t be able to replace following his departure is the rim pressure and free-throw attempts.
Before Russ arrived, the Nuggets had been one of the worst teams in the league at generating free throws, but he completely changed that. They went from 29th in the NBA in 2023-24 to first last season, and while that wasn’t all a direct result of Westbrook, his play was a big part of it.