Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook is having one of the worst seasons of his career in terms of putting the ball in the hoop.

He is averaging 21.7 points per game while shooting just 41.7 percent from the floor, 24.9 percent from three-point range and 65.6 percent from the free-throw line.

However, the Thunder are flourishing, and that is in no small part due to the other things that Westbrook is doing on the court.

Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell has certainly noticed the change in Westbrook's game this year and praised him for deferring to Paul George:

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“I think the biggest thing for him is he kind of took the Dwyane Wade approach when LeBron was there,” Mitchell said of Westbrook, referring to Wade sacrificing some of his offense when LeBron James arrived in Miami back in 2010 (per Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News). “He’s deferring a lot more and I think it’s shown in his game that he’s able to do that.“

Westbrook is averaging a career-high 11.2 assists per game, and his usage rate is at 30.9 percent, his lowest mark since his second year in the league.

“A lot of people kind of questioned that throughout his career because he was so ball dominant, but I think he’s shown that as a leader and as a player, he’s able to play off the ball,” added Mitchell.

Mitchell's Jazz will take on Westbrook's Thunder on Friday night in a rematch of last year's first-round playoff series in which Utah won, 4-2. Oklahoma City is currently 37-20 while Utah is 32-25.