According to several reports that were issued throughout this week, Houston Rockets All-Star Russell Westbrook would like to take his talents elsewhere. There is no doubting the fact that he is one of the best players in today's game, but it seems his heft contract is leading interested teams in the opposite direction.
As part of a recent appearance on ESPN, Brian Windhorst noted that there “isn't a lot of interest in Russell Westbrook trades out there”:
“I've got bad news for him on both of those fronts,” said Windhorst on SportsCenter, via RealGM. “New coach Stephen Silas has said he does not intend to change the offense very much. I've surveyed a significant part of the league today and I don't think there's a lot of interest in Russell Westbrook trades out there. Not because they don't think he's not much of a player, but because of his contract.”
Westbrook, now 32 years of age as of Thursday, is set to earn just over $41 million for the 2020-21 season, and his salary exponentiates with each passing year. All in all, the Rockets star point guard has approximately $133 million remaining on his contract over three seasons. The former UCLA standout won't be an unrestricted free agent until 2023. With such a high price tag, it's easy to see why teams are struggling to find the means to fit him in.
Following reports indicating that he no longer wanted to play with James Harden specifically, Westbrook fired back to refute the claims:
Russell Westbrook responds to the report that he and James Harden don’t want to play with each other anymore:
“This is completely fabricated. Y’all have a good night.” #Rockets pic.twitter.com/ofpvpowaRw
— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) November 13, 2020
Russ made 57 appearances last regular season for the Rockets, racking up averages of 27.2 points on 47.2 percent shooting from the field (25.8 percent from beyond the arc), 7.9 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.6 steals in 35.9 minutes per outing.
Westbrook would be an excellent addition for a lot of teams, but will the price be too high? For now, we'll have to wait and see where The Brodie will be suiting up for the coming season.
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