Jamal Murray has been one of the better starting point guards in the NBA since his second year in the league, as he has averaged 19.0 points and 5.1 assists per game since then. The downside to Murray lately has been his availability, as the former Kentucky Wildcat hasn’t played more than 66 games in a season since 2018-19 (he missed the entire season in 2021-22).

While Denver has in the past relied on players like Monte Morris to fill the void in Murray’s absence, this offseason they opted to bring in former MVP Russell Westbrook to lead off the bench and replace Murray when he fails.

Before the Nuggets’ 120-98 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, head coach Michael Malone spoke about Westbrook’s ability to replace Murray.

“Yeah, I know Jamal isn’t going to play 82 (games),” Malone said. “You like to think that all your guys don’t miss a game and play 82, but when you sign a guy like Russell Westbrook, who comes off the bench in LA at this stage of his career – and Jamal will hopefully play 75 games , but knowing he’s going to miss games to have a guy who’s a proven starter and I love Russ’ impact on the game and I love how well he and Nikola (Jokic) work with and against each other others play.”

Malone added: “Yeah, that was definitely part of the appeal of signing a guy like Russell Westbrook. If Jamal is out and you need a starting point guard where you have a guy who has done it at the highest level for 17 years.”

So far, Westbrook’s signing has paid off for the Nuggets. As a starter, he averaged 14.2 points, 8.4 assists and 5.2 rebounds on 52.1% from the field in five appearances.

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