Russell Westbrook prefers to Heat things up – 3 trade options that work for both sides

Erik Spoelstra effect:

Throughout Westbrook’s 11 seasons he’s only had three coaches P.J. Carlesimo (13 games), Scott Brooks (six years plus 69 games) and Billy Donovan the past four seasons. Although Russ won MVP, has three consecutive seasons of averaging a triple-double and is an annual All-Star arguably no coach has ever truly translated Westbrook’s obvious talents into a successful offensive team system.

I’ve always said Russ needed a coach like Popovich, Carlisle or Spoelstra who would insist on a specific system which could equate to the enigmatic point guard taking the next step.

Ultimately, Westbrook is an uber talented star, but his regression in shooting efficiency is concerning. Still, it would be unwise to assume he couldn’t have a bounce back season — after all, this is Westbrook who loves nothing more than proving his critics wrong. That said, for the Heat to be contenders they would need to improve from the perimeter to open the floor and create driving lanes for Butler and Westbrook to attack or to pull up in the mid-range.

Again, Spoelstra is among the upper echelon of coaches who regularly gets the most out of his players. Therefore, it would be unwise to assume a Butler-Westbrook duo couldn’t work.

With that, let’s take a look at some potential trades.