Where does Russell Westbrook go from here?
- Thread starter A Tribe Called Quest ™
- Start date
Dem313wayz
Superstar
He was a 6th to 8th man on the Clippers and was unplayable against Dallas
His body can no longer keep up to what his mind wants to do. He still has the energy and drive, and still crazy athletic but his body is slower to react. The fractions of a second throws his whole rhythm off. If only he learned how to play at a slower pace...or at least harness it. He's also a 1-of-1, so there's no one historically for him to to study to model his game after.
Because contrary to popular Coli belief, a certain superstar on the team actually wanted someone else to share ball-handling responsibilities with.
The idea of Russ watching old film to develop his game seems like a stretch at this point, but if you really had to make a comp, he's kind of like a shorter, crazier Clyde Drexler. Both were incredibly athletic guards who could just fly to the hoop, primarily dangerous on the drive, a bit loose with the handle but made up for it with the speed, unorthodox jump shooters who could get hot but were low efficiency away from the basket due to their poor mechanics, risk-takers on defense who could rack up steals/blocks but were not consistent stoppers, didn't always make the best decisions, had a reputation for playing hard but struggling in some big moments.
Drexler was also a player whose impact declined noticeably the moment he started to lose his athleticism. In Portland his game took a big drop right at about 30 and I remember feeling like the Blazers' window was already closing. He had a bit of a resurgence a couple years later when they moved the 3pt line in, but Russ ain't getting that boost.
Russ always cared about his stats, but I feel like once KD left and he felt the title window was gone, he just tripled-down on chasing points and triple-doubles and dropped every part of the game that didn't result in the right tick on the box score.
mbewane
Knicks: 93 til infinity
Been said years ago that he's a high-maintenance journey man. This might be it but he could still be useful on some teams on a limited role, an energy player off the bench.
Ozymandeas
Veteran
A turnover prone emotionally combustible 36-year old point guard who can't shoot or make his free throws? Coming off a debacle of a playoff series? That's tough.
The Heat should sign him
im saying people must not watch basketball like that. he's one last bad stretch away from being paid to stay home
who_better_than_me
Time to go!!
Russ is a knucklehead. If he Jsut develops an average perimter shot he can probably easily play 5 more years in a primary role or secondary role
cyndaquil
Lv 100 Bold natured
This.
He can be a bench piece on a few contenders and hope to contribute to a ring since that's the only thing he missing from his career. Then retire and get inducted to the hall of fame.
Getting a ring might push him up a few spots all time so I'd make that my focus if I was him...
Vet minimum and ring chase
Kinguno
The Immortal
It means he gave money up
Also if he didn’t he would’ve made more money his next contract because technically he’s on a minimum
The CBA has built in rules for non minimum salaries like 7.5 percent increases each year there’s also an age cap on how long your contracts can be past a certain age it used to be 36 but it got increased to 38 so basically Lebron can’t sign for more than 3 years. It was used as a way to push guys out of the league past a certain age
Money matters more than flaming out in the playoffs on a team that gets hurt every year
Another example of this happening is when John Wall got traded from the Wizards to the Rockets. He took a buyout from his original contract to go play for the Clippers they ain’t really use him and they actually ended up trading him back to the Rockets in a three team trade.
I used John Wall & Westbrook because they literally were both “untradable” and“loyal”
Money matters most of these owners aren’t going to pay more for luxury tax. Also teams get bonuses for when they are under the salary cap so often they will move guys at the trade deadline for the bonus. As long as as a team is above the minimum salary it’s ok.
Let’s just say you are old enough to have remembered the lockouts in 1999 and 2011 the CBA changes enough every few years if that certain teams “rises & falls” make more sense. Especially with some major changes that have gone under the radar I’ll give you a few examples.
The league has thirty teams and will soon be expanding to thirty-two since the playins started a few years ago technically ten teams per conference make the playoffs and get extra money for those games. Eight really make it in but that’s more money. Fourteen teams make the lottery with the worse bottom three teams having the same fourteen percent chance to get the number one pick. The youngest you can be in the NBA is 19 (one year out from high school) the typical prime peak of a player is 26-29.
When a first round pick is drafted they are locked into a four year deal. The extension after is always three years. The rookie contracts are capped on a scale. Max contracts take up 25% of a teams’ cap. If you have a player that has hit over eight years or won certain awards they get 35% of the cap aka the Supermax.
Because of Derrick Rose being so great being the youngest MVP ever the NBA made a rule in his honor where if you become MVP, or DPOY, or a two time all star starter, or make an all-NBA team (remember now since they removed positions there’s 15 open slots across 420 players) (The media also decides who wins these awards)
you can become eligible for a Supermax. Which gives you 30% of the cap in your first four years. It’s why Ant is going from 13 million this season to next season making 42 million.
a guy with eight plus years is capped at 35% with 8% increase each year it’s why Jaylen Brown who just signed the most expensive contract for 320 million guaranteed with 65.6 Million as his salary for the final year of that contract.
Can’t forget the very important 65 game minimum which cost Embid the MVP. After seven years is played a player gains unrestricted free agency where but recently guys have been traded before they reached it on the condition that they sign an extension with their new team like How Pascal Siakim did once the Raptors traded him to the Pacers. (It’s why Paul George got traded to from the pacers, and why Donovan Mitchell got traded from the Jazz)
There’s also The Bird rule where if a player played on a team for a minimum of four years in a row the team can go over the cap to pay them
It’s 2024 the salary cap is 136 million with 28 teams over it. Each year longer in the cap the more extra the owner pays separately from the team. The average NBA career is 4 and a half seasons. Which adds up to players getting thrown into a deadline trade just to get waived and that being the end.
This is how the NBA is until another player comes and rules change again. Like Wemby especially with how they change the CBA every twoish years. The salary cap is going up more too especially with the new TV deals.
These are the teams to watch for in the next five years :The Magic, The Thunder,Celtics,