Don’t Assume Russell Westbrook Extending Contract this Summer is a Foregone Conclusion

July 1 is close and Thunder fans and those who follow the league closely are waiting to see how Russell Westbrook handles his contract extension. Westbrook is eligible for a five-year $200+ million extension this summer. A new CBA rule makes Westbrook and James Harden eligible for the new “Super Max” contracts. In one year since the 2016 summer for OKC, Westbrook is now League MVP and Kevin Durant has a championship. For years now, Westbrook has claimed that his main goal in the NBA is to win a championship. With Durant, the Oklahoma City Thunder made four Western Conference Finals and an NBA Finals. The Thunder and Westbrook have experienced great levels of success in nine years. Some teams still haven’t come close to achieving the amount they have.

For Westbrook, 28, his past nine years in the league may be more than what he has ahead of him. The league is in for a renaissance of sorts. It should be no secret that he wants to compete sooner rather than later. The Golden State Warriors have created a race to see who can field the best team to challenge them. For the Thunder, contention is a place in which they no longer reside. The roster is one of the youngest in the league and lacks the cohesion that most contenders possess. Imagining a scenario where the front office waits for internal development to kick in, risking Westbrook’s prime, is hard. This situation is a unique one. Not very often has the MVP of the league come from a sixth seed. 

His contemporaries for the award – Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant – all earned the honors on teams that had a chance to compete for the ultimate honor. Harden himself declared that because his Houston Rockets were a top-three seed, his accomplishments should earn him the MVP. Because of Westbrook’s absolute brilliance, he has elevated himself AND his burgeoning team into rare air. But where does a team with the MVP and no other All-Stars go from here? Does Westbrook’s value in loyalty leave him in a place of complacency?

There isn’t much that the team can do. If OKC wants to add a star free agent they’ll have to gut the roster, including one of their core pieces. Realistically, even that isn’t enough. Oklahoma City has no cap space. It has been said over and over again. The Thunder are usually a very active team, with the front office making their interests in big names known outright. The downside is that Oklahoma City has very little success in signing significant free agents. There are some ruminating on the idea of Blake Griffin coming to the team. Those numbers are ramping up now with Chris Paul’s exodus to Houston. The options on that are primarily limited to a sign-and-trade scenario that would leave the team hard capped for the next season. That isn’t something management has tended to do in the past.

 General Manager Sam Presti locked Victor Oladipo and Steven Adams into long-term deals that have the team strapped for cash. In retrospect, this may have been too hasty a decision. The thought process is clear, however – lock two cornerstone-type players into deals now and avoid having the market dictate their prices. What the team is left with, though, is a playoff-contending squad that will need time to grow with the MVP of the league. Presumably, by the time Adams and Oladipo hit their primes, Westbrook will be 32. That’s four years into a five-year extension, and there’s no real assurance that the Thunder would even be in a position to contend for a title.

Russell Westbrook has made it very clear that this is the only place he wants to be.  By all accounts, he is ready and willing to sign the extension as soon July 1 and stay with the team for the essentially the rest of his career. Throughout the year he has talked about being loyal to the organization and the fans. His emotionally moving MVP acceptance speech showed his appreciation and adoration for his teammates.

For an MVP in his prime, though, is it in his best interests to take on the best of the league while waiting for his teammates to catch up? 

Westbrook notably likes to stay out the goings-on of the front office due to his strong trust in upper management. The Thunder haven’t given Westbrook any reason to distrust them. Presti and the front office have done everything in their power to make the team better. At his exit interview, Presti spoke to reporters and gave some insight into how the Thunder plan to approach July. 

Now will we go out and look at every opportunity? Yes, we will, We will look at every opportunity, because, you know that’s what we’ve done over the course of time. But unless somebody is willing to give us exactly what we want, for a limited return or for return that we feel comfortable with, we have no alternative other than to continue to be head down, sleeves up, working to get better with this group of players. H/T Fred Katz.

On the surface, the Thunder are a young team rife with young potential that includes recent draft pick Terrance Ferguson. However, with the increased turnover in the league, banking on potential doesn’t get you closer to the top. The allure of now is what the league is running on. The dominance of the Warriors has the league in a place where realized talent is much more attractive than young assets.

The opening is there for Westbrook to slow down and take a look at the landscape of the league. Not signing the extension immediately gives him the ability to trial-run another year with the Thunder and come to a decision after the season. He can still pick up his option for the upcoming season and still be eligible for the five year max deal. The incentive for taking his time with this is clear and present.

Foregoing negotiations, however, goes against everything that Westbrook has stood for over the last year. It would almost certainly put the fan base he has lauded so fervently in a state of unrest.

It would also prompt Presti to have to look at an unfathomable contingency and consider trading their superstar. The organization will do its due diligence in looking at improving the situation around the League MVP. They understand the state of affairs and they certainly value the irreplaceable genius of Russell Westbrook. Westbrook has this option and more to think about between now and Saturday.