Westbrook signs 5-yr/$80 million contract extension

[Phil89]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=A ... nba_011912

All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook has signed a five-year, $80 million contract extension with the Oklahoma City Thunder, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Under the new collective bargaining agreement, Westbrook could’ve been eligible for a maximum deal worth 30 percent of the Thunder’s salary cap next season. To do so, he needed to satisfy requirements that included him being named to the All-NBA team twice in four years. Nevertheless, Westbrook gets an extension that pays him 25 percent of the Thunder’s cap and preserves space that allows the franchise to construct future deals for James Harden and Serge Ibaka.

Good news for both parties.

Will be interesting to see what happens with Harden and Ibaka though. Hopefully we don't have to choose between them.

[Andrew]

Agreed. Westbrook still has room for improvement, which is absolutely fine given his age, and the Thunder have a good thing going with their current roster. A worthwhile investment.

[Kenny]

Whether or not you're a fan of the franchise, I think you have to admire the way they've built their team. There seems to be a good culture and both of their main players seem content with the team.

Hopefully Westbrook continues to improve and justifies that huge contract.

[rise]

With Durant getting as much as he's getting, I thought Westbrook was going to get a smaller contract (something paying more like 12-13M/year instead of 16), because eventually James Harden and Serge Ibaka are going to require big bucks, and the Thunder need to pay for a supporting cast too. They're already paying Kendrick Perkins quite a bit, and even the role players (Sefolosha, Maynor, Collison, others) will eat into that salary. They better win a championship soon, otherwise it's likely the Thunder can't afford Ibaka/Harden or a decent bench.

Still, I think RW is worth every penny of that deal.

[Andrew]

Whether or not you're a fan of the franchise, I think you have to admire the way they've built their team. There seems to be a good culture and both of their main players seem content with the team.

Both the Thunder and the Bulls seem to have done a good job in that regard. There are still question marks, I think they're both at least a couple of pieces and further development in their younger players away from being frontrunners for championships, but at this point they both seem to have set themselves up to at least contend for the next few years.

[kibaxx7]

Yep, worth every penny for me. Top 3 PG in the league.

[Andrew]

I don't know about top three. I'd say he's top fix or six, with the list comprising of Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo, Deron Williams, Russell Westbrook and Steve Nash in some order.

[homicide1550]

Definitely not in the top 3.. I don't even think he is a PG, he's a 2-guard forced to play the point. But he is definitely one of the better players in the league. Congrats to him on his new contract!

Money, money, Yeah, yeah!

[shadowgrin]

2-guard forced to play the point.

A 3-guard.

[Andrew]

Definitely not in the top 3.. I don't even think he is a PG, he's a 2-guard forced to play the point. But he is definitely one of the better players in the league.

Agreed, he still seems to be adapting to playing point in the NBA and in particular, honing his shot selection and instincts as a distributor. I think that will come though, he'll never be a John Stockton or Steve Nash type of point guard but then neither will Derrick Rose and he's certainly doing alright for himself so far. If Westbrook hasn't improved in that regard in five years time or so, I think it would be safe to go ahead and say he'll never "get it" and be stuck somewhere between the guard spots for his whole career, but right now I'd say there's a pretty good chance he'll develop that part of his game.