The Westbrook Worries

After a very disappointing loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals, this loss brings Nuggets fans to question the future of the team. There aren't a lot of moves the Nuggets can do over the offseason, so they will likely be bringing back a very similar roster to next season. One thing Nuggets fans will be keeping an eye on is Russell Westbrook and whether he signs his player option over the summer.

Westbrook signed with Denver over the summer after he was bought out by the Utah Jazz. Fans around the sport questioned Denver on this signing after Westbrook’s last few years had people thinking it was time for him to retire. He was trashed for his bad shot quality, lackluster shooting percentages, and his high turnover rate.

During the 2024-25 season, Westbrook had shown improvement from past years, but was very inconsistent and still turned the ball over way too much. He would end the season averaging 13.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 6.1 assists per game, but he had 3.2 turnovers per game and only shot 32% from the 3, and still took 4 shots per game. He didn’t play as bad as past years, but he ended up being someone that ended up costing a lot of games. One game he cost us was when we went to double OT against the Timberwolves at home, and Jokic had 61,10, and 10. We were up near the end of the 2nd OT, and Westbrook stole the ball and had a wide-open layup and missed it, up 1 with 9.1 seconds left. He then fouled Nickeil Alexander-Walker on his 3-point attempt with no time left, giving the Timberwolves 3 free throws at the end of the game.

During the playoffs, Westbrook struggled, especially against the Thunder. During this series, he averaged a 34.8 field-goal percentage and a 21.9 3-point percentage, while also turning the ball over 4 times in 3 different games, and was constantly dealing with foul trouble. Westbrook, who is your 6th man, basically became irrelevant against the Thunder. Also, during the playoffs, there started to become locker room issues between him and guys like Aaron Gordon for questioning his mentality and his matureness.

During this summer, Westbrook has an opportunity to continue playing here and sign his player option, he can walk and look for a bigger offer, or he might retire, but that's unlikely. Westbrook's player option is only worth $3.4 million and wouldn’t be terrible for a guy off the bench like Westbrook with his experience and his passion for the game, but he needs more help from his bench teammates and needs to learn to slow down when he's on the offensive end. Westbrook staying in Denver could work, but there would need to be some changes to him and to the team.

Do you Nuggets fans feel like he should stay for another year, or do you guys want someone new off the bench?