If unconquerable superteams are assembled to dominate the NBA, the Russell Westbrook Celtics could be the rebellious antidote, the scrawny yet capable underdog against the continuum of Warriors versus Cavaliers. Westbrook has always been the NBA's antihero and his team would be the anti-superteam.

Westbrook’s polyphonic game is like acid rain and playing as the unequivocal alpha and omega with a finely crafted set of elite role players is perhaps the ultimate fulfillment of his basketball destiny. Perhaps it is also the ultimate fulfillment of this Celtics’ era, which has felt like a used car lot, to roll with a gloriously bright red Ferrari surrounded by four utility pickups. The Celtics would offer Westbrook a weaponized independence that embraces his individualist nature without the encumbrance of the anachronistic offense of the Thunder. 

When Kevin Durant missed most of the 14-15 season, Westbrook ascended to his own beautifully twisted version of heaven obstinately doing everything on offense. Westbrook’s usage rate and assist rate jumped radically and he went from excellent second star to MVP candidate, making the ‘Soon’ meme feel prophetic even if the only awards so far, perhaps fittingly, have been back-to-back All-Star MVPs.  Westbrook averaged 28.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game that season. The Thunder also missed the playoffs with their typically miscast supporting players just as they blew a 3-1 lead this season to the Warriors.

The perfunctory alternating of possessions by Westbrook and Durant was always agonizingly imperfect, while the Westbrook, Durant and James Harden co-op was tragically impossible. If Westbrook isn’t the all-encompassing totality for his team and has to negotiate touches of the ball, he more than anyone is laggingly stuck in an ineffectual purgatory. There will be no issue of oversupply with Boston, this will be exclusively his struggle.

Westbrook doesn’t have to score on every trip down the court but he has to be tenaciously involved. Westbrook assisted on 49.6 percent of Oklahoma City’s buckets while on the floor last season, a number that has jumped around throughout his career, most notably dropping from 42.7 in 10-11 to 29.8 in 11-12 when Harden and Durant adopted more playmaker roles. The all-around way Westbrook played without Durant carried over last season even as his shots went down and the Thunder were the closest they’ve been to their ceiling since 2012. 

The Celtics have a preponderance of trade assets and role players. Even Al Horford is a role player who gets All-Star recognition by result of playing in the Eastern Conference and being consistently very good at everything. Isaiah Thomas was an All-Star this past season but he’s at his best as the NBA’s bench scorer. Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley are excellent defensive players who can guard multiple positions and shoot in the mid-thirties on three-pointers. 

All those trade assets and role players have been coalescing for Danny Ainge to approach this moment to acquire a superstar like Westbrook while having enough remaining after that evacuation of pieces to then be a boosted contender. Assuming some mix of Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Amir Johnson and Brooklyn picks goes out for Westbrook and Kyle Singler, the Celtics would be built around Westbrook, Thomas, Bradley, Crowder, Horford, Jonas Jerebko and Kelly Olynyk.

With this personnel who can all capably play without the ball and spread the floor, even the bigs, Brad Stevens’ pace and space offense suits Westbrook flawlessly. The hope for Boston is Stevens would be the best coach he has played for and the adrenalized anarchy of his game would be harnessed into the most efficient version of the Westbrook experience; fewer three-pointers off the dribble, more passes, engaged defense.

Durant left Westbrook and the Thunder because he simultaneously wanted more touches even if it means less shots with the Warriors because the quality and ease of those shots will be enhanced. With Boston, Westbrook gets all of the touches, as many shots as he wants and the role players to support him with shooting, passing and defense.

The Celtics ranked fourth in the NBA in pace last season and this is of course where Westbrook is at his devastating best when he can grab a rebound and get out quickly into transition.

In the halfcourt, the Celtics would feature Westbrook in a heavy dose of pick and pops that allow him to get a running start to force the defense to collapse upon him for open kickouts if he can’t get all the way to the rim. But the Celtics would also slip into their typical ball movement to shift the defense around and seek out better shots. With the Celtics, who had the NBA’s fifth highest assist rate, Westbrook knows he’ll get the ball will circulate back after giving it up.

“He’s just so aggressive, so assertive,” Stevens said about him in 2015 when he was on his Durant-less run. “Clearly as competitive as all get-out, and arguably the best athlete in the game. You add all that together and it’s a lethal combination. He’s really terrific.” 

Boston would stagger the minutes of Westbrook and Thomas with the latter instantly becoming 6th Man of the Year favorite to anchor their bench unit. The Celtics could go small to finish games with Westbrook, Thomas, Bradley, Crowder and Horford. With both Westbrook and Thomas, the Celtics would have two scorers off the dribble that can create for themselves and other to produce clean looks in high leverage situations.

The Celtics ranked 10th in offense at 106.8 points per 100 possessions and bringing in Westbrook and Horford would likely move them to top-5.

Westbrook’s defense is the most transitory part of his game but the Celtics ranked fourth in the NBA in defensive efficiency at 103.6 points allowed per 100 possessions compared to Oklahoma City at 13th with 105.6 points per 100. Westbrook will always get the easier backcourt assignment playing with Bradley and there’s enough strong links where they can remain a top-5 unit within Stevens’ scheme, especially if he gambles less and simply shows up on every possession. 

Teams with a top-5 ranking on both sides of the floor fit the profile of title contenders and these Celtics would present the most difficult challenge the Cavaliers have faced in the Eastern Conference.

Westbrook doesn’t have an obvious choice in free agency the way Durant did with the Warriors. Westbrook doesn’t feel like a Boston player and his personality would seem to be best suited for an extreme: either the hunkered down existence of Oklahoma City or the amplified culture of New York/Los Angeles on the other end. 

For basketball reasons, Westbrook and his omnivorousness with the Celtics until his body breaks down could have the NBA’s other instantaneous title window.