Los Angeles Clippers: Russell Westbrook Needs to Start for LA to Beat Mavericks in Playoffs, Per Draymond Green

Westbrook has done an admirable job in embracing his role with the second unit for the Clippers this season. In fact, the former NBA MVP has thrived coming off the bench.

Green believes, however, that LA must abandon this approach if they hope to deal with Mavs star point guard Kyrie Irving:

“The X-factor in that series is going to be Russell Westbrook,” Green said on a recent episode of his podcast (h/t Joey Linn of FanNation). “Because Russell is gonna have to guard Kyrie Irving… Russell Westbrook is the X-factor in that series. Russell Westbrook is the X-factor for that team. No surprise they’ve struggled as much as they’ve struggled over the last month and a half, because Russell missed most of that time. Russ on Kyrie, Kawhi is gonna have to go guard Luka… I also think at some point in this series, Ty Lue is gonna have to scrap Russell Westbrook off the bench and move Russell Westbrook into that starting lineup in order to win this series. That’s just my take.”

Green is one of the top basketball minds in the game today, so this isn’t just random rumblings from the four-time NBA champion. He’s played against both Westbrook and Irving many times in the past, so you can’t say that his opinion doesn’t have legs.

As Green implied in his statement above, this series is going to be so much more than just multiple superstars battling it out on the court. It’s going to be a tactical battle as well with opposing coaches looking to get the better out of their counterpart.

Green has already dropped some advice for Clippers coach Ty Lue, so we shall soon see if the veteran shot-caller will heed Draymond’s call here.