Nuggets Receive Huge Russell Westbrook News During NBA Offseason

Nuggets Receive Huge Russell Westbrook News During NBA Offseason originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

It has been a busy offseason for the Denver Nuggets as they have reshaped their roster around their core of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon after being eliminated in the second round of the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Denver began their offseason by trading Michael Porter Jr. to the Brooklyn Nets for Cameron Johnson in a trade that not only landed them a three-point sharpshooter in Johnson but also helped free up cap space.

With the extra cap space, the Nuggets signed Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr. in free agency and they also acquired Jonas Valanciunas from the Sacramento Kings.

By making these moves, the Nuggets have been able to upgrade their bench, which was a massive issue for them last season.

While the Nuggets clearly had the goal to upgrade their depth this offseason, one of their key players from last season will reportedly not be returning next season.

Russell Westbrook not expected to return to Nuggets

According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, Russell Westbrook is set to sign with a new team this summer in free agency as he will not be returning to Denver.

“It appears that Westbrook, who spent the first 11 years of his career with the Oklahoma City Thunder, will play for his sixth franchise in seven seasons. He won't be returning to the Denver Nuggets after a roller coaster season in which Westbrook finished seventh in the Sixth Man of the Year voting,” MacMahon wrote.

This is a massive report by MacMahon, but also one that is not a major surprise as it appeared as though the Nuggets were not interested in bringing back the former NBA MVP.

Of course, Westbrook played a key role for the Nuggets last season both off the bench and in the starting lineup, though his minutes were cut at the end of the season after Denver fired former head coach Michael Malone and replaced him with David Adelman.

With Westbrook now unlikely to return to Denver for next season, MacMahon mentioned in his report that the Sacramento Kings are viewed as the favorites to sign him, though there should be other teams that also show interest in adding the veteran guard to their roster next season.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 13, 2025, where it first appeared.