Devastating dunks, highlight passes and a competitive edge that even all-time greats like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant have commented on. But there is an undeniable frustration that comes along with watching him play, especially when you root for him. But before that, let’s consider where Russell Westbrook was before he arrived in the NBA journey.
There are some stars who get riddled with consecutive injuries, while there are others who just don’t pan out with their respective teams. With that said, let’s take a look at the five worst contracts heading into the upcoming 2020-21 NBA season.
The Golden State Warriors’ season took what could have been a lethal blow this week. The injury to Klay Thompson, ruling him out until 2021/22, took them from title contenders to middle-of-the-pack. Already facing a sizeable tax bill, Warriors ownership could have sat back and shrugged.
The Los Angeles Lakers are in advanced talks to trade for Oklahoma City Thunder guard Dennis Schroeder, according to Shams Charania and Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Phoenix Suns are embroiled in trade negotiations for Thunder All-NBA guard Chris Paul. The veteran point guard enjoyed a major bounceback season in Oklahoma City, and the Thunder are clearly heading into a rebuild.
After pushing James Harden and the Houston Rockets to seven games, the Oklahoma City Thunder finally saw their surprisingly great season come to an end. They had no business entering the playoffs, let alone pushing a championship-aspiring Rockets squad to the brink of elimination.
Team general manager Elton Brand already emphasized that he is not open to letting go of All-Stars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, which should mean that the members of the Sixers’ supporting cast are up for grabs.
The 35-year old playmaker will not become a free agent until 2022, so the only possible route to get him to the Big Apple is through a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Which team has more potential to cause an upset?
Harden’s three-point shooting has improved every year, tenfold under D’Antoni, if Westbrook can meld his game with efficient shooting then we could see the perfect mixture between passion, intensity and heart and analytics, efficiency and ‘money-ball’.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have agreed a monster trade with the Houston Rockets that will see Russell Westbrook join Houston with Chris Paul going the other way, as reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Rebuilding is a chore for players, front offices and fans alike. Considering how close the Thunder once got to greatness, it will be especially rough to start over. Oklahoma City must start their rebuild by removing their cornerstone.
The Los Angeles Clippers are acquiring All-NBA stars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, as reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The parallels are most apparent between the Blazers and the Thunder at the point-guard position. Russell Westbrook and Damian Lillard are two of the top five point-guards in the NBA. Both play with a chip on their shoulder the size of a boulder, but most importantly, both have shown unwavering loyalty to their franchises and their cities.
The NBA Playoffs begin this Saturday. Late season drama was limited, with the Detroit Pistons holding onto the eight seed in the East. We have known the Western Conference playoffs for a while, but the seedings altered in the final days of the regular season, changing the first-round matchups.
