Can Russell Westbrook again be the point guard the Clippers need?

What is the value of a point guard in today’s NBA? And what good is an assist?

Game 3 of the 2023 Western Conference quarterfinals series between the LA Clippers and the Phoenix Suns was a sobering inflection point for the Clippers. Already without All-Star Paul George due to a sprained right knee suffered a month earlier, the Clippers had to rule out fellow star Kawhi Leonard after that morning’s shootaround due to an injury later revealed to be a torn right meniscus. The Clippers earned a split to begin the series in Phoenix, but they ultimately failed to win another game.

In that game’s final minute of the third quarter, Russell Westbrook found himself on the floor with an interesting four-man group: two players (Bones Hyland and Mason Plumlee) who, like him, joined the Clippers in February, one player (Marcus Morris Sr.) playing his first game in 26 days, and another player (Terance Mann) who was the temporary starting point guard prior to Westbrook’s arrival. Of the five, only Westbrook started the game.

As the Clippers executed a pick-and-roll play involving Mann backscreening for a rolling Plumlee, Westbrook drew Phoenix center Deandre Ayton’s attention, forcing a series of Suns rotations that left Hyland open on the wing. Westbrook made the immediate read, and while the pass was high, it still put Hyland in position to not hesitate and launch a 3 over a recovering Josh Okogie. This play marked Westbrook’s 10th assist in the game (he would finish with 12).

In just his 24th game with the team (including playoffs), Westbrook had secured double-digit assists for the ninth time. The rest of the Clippers as a team combined for just six games of at least 10 assists last season. In fact, Westbrook’s 9 double-digit assist games with the Clippers matched the most in any season by any Clipper since Chris Paul’s 2017 departure. Lou Williams reached that mark nine times in 81 games (including playoffs) in the 2018-19 season. Westbrook managed to equal him in just 26, about one of every three games on average.

The Clippers had been starved for a playmaking guard since trading Paul to the Houston Rockets after six Lob City seasons. The arrival of Leonard and George in the 2019 offseason made double-digit assist games from Clippers even more rare. The Clippers had six games all of 2019-20 with a double-digit assist performer, with Leonard and Williams having two each. In 2020-21, Lue’s first season as Clippers head coach, the Clippers had eight double-digit assist games by an individual all season, despite the midseason trade that sent Williams to the Atlanta Hawks for Rajon Rondo. Without Leonard for the 2021-22 season, the Clippers had only seven double-digit assist games by an individual, with four coming from Reggie Jackson.

Having Westbrook allowed the Clippers to score easier, faster and closer to the basket than they had all season. He had the ability and will to drive and pass more than the previous Clippers…