Russell Westbrook Experience: Brace Yourself For Full Blast

If you thought Russell Westbrook played like a caged animal before, just wait until you witness his final, vindictive form.

There is absolutely no conceivable way that he and I belong in the same specie. In some ways, he actually is half-man, half-bionic, having gone through three (yes, three) knee surgeries in a one-year span, just to come back as athletic and explosive as ever.

He’s one of those rare superstars that go full-tilt, balls-to-the-wall every time he steps foot on the floor — strikingly akin to the Michael Jordan‘s and Allen Iverson‘s of eras past. As legendary play-by-play man Hubie Brown would put it, Westbrook will give you “48 minutes of horror.”

As we sit here in 2016, Russ is now widely regarded as the most athletic point guard to ever play the game — he is also, presently, the biggest domino the rest of league is waiting fall.

With Kevin Duarnt’s much ballyhooed ~~betrayal~~ departure from the Oklahoma City Thunder, most initially assumed Westbrook would follow suit by taking his talents to a mega market like Los Angeles or Boston.

Option A

He stays in OKC, and takes the “James Harden special,” where instead of making $17.8 million this season for the final year of his contact, he’ll sign a four-year extension and enjoy a $6.8 million pay raise (or $24.6 million next year) and earn $28.5 million, $30.5 million and $32.5 million over the subsequent three seasons.

Option B

He plays out this year and re-signs with the Thunder at season’s end for five years on a contract worth, give-or-take, $175 million.

Option C

He plays out he year, but leaves after the season for Boston or L.A. on a four-year deal starting at $30 million a year.

Option D

He decides to stay in OKC and signs a two-year extension with a third-year player option.

In doing so, he’ll make $26.5 million and $28.5 million over the next two seasons (as oppose to just making $17.8 million for 2016-17), and will become a free agent in 2018, where as a 10-year vet, he’ll be qualified to make up to 35 percent of the Thunder’s total salary cap (instead of 30 percent).

In knowing what we know of Russ — super competitive, march to the beat of own drum — if I were a betting man, I would put money on Russ betting on himself and taking Option D.

I’m even more confident after watching Westbrook’s reaction to KD’s departure; that, in conjunction with the monetary gains he’ll enjoy if he stays in Loud City, all signs point to him taking on this Warriors super team challenge head-on as his personal vendetta.

All the juicy narratives and cap talk aside, though, even if Russ stays, do the Thunder have a puncher’s chance at remaining as one of the Western Conference’s elites?

We’ve seen in the past Russ operate without Durant.

More explicitly, during the 2014-15 season, Westbrook played the entire second half of the season (post-All-Star-break) without the services of the then-reigning MVP.

But, while his raw numbers were eyepopping, as in the 28 aforementioned games he appeared in during that stretch, he averaged over 31.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 9.9 assists, and 2.0 steals a contest, he also committed 5.3 turnovers per game, scored on a mundane 53.4 percent TS%, and the team stumbled to a 16-12 finish, en route to missing the playoffs for the time since Russ’ rookie season.

Full disclosure, though, the Thunder did suffer a series of unfortunate injuries down the stretch, including maladies that depleted their vaunted frontcourt of Serge Ibaka and Steven Adams.

Looking forward to next season, assuming you’ll need at least 48 wins to make the playoffs and 52 wins for Russ to win the MVP. Do the Thunder — as currently constituted — have what it takes to make material noise?

Skimming through their roster, there is certainly some talent — young talent, at that.

Victor Oladipo is an aggressive combo guard, and should form, alongside Russ, the most athletic backcourt in the game.

Enes Kanter is one of the most efficient interior scorers in the league, and what he lacks on defense, his fellow “‘Stache Bro,” Adams, more than makes up for it with his grit, motor, and unforgiving effort.

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Conceptually-speaking, however, this roster is a spacing nightmare.

It’s hard to imagine where Russ will find the room to operate in a high pick-and-roll setting, let alone driving lanes in a lineup that features their five best players (Russ-Oladipo-Andre Roberson-Kanter-Adams).

On the flip side, coach Billy Donovan will seriously compromise their defense if he decides to play Anthony Morrow and Ersan Ilyasova extended minutes — especially if such minutes are tethered with Kanter.

Cameron Payne showed some impressive flashes as a rookie and at Summer League, both as a shooter and secondary ballhandler, but he just underwent surgery to repair a Jones fracture (yes, the same type of foot injury KD suffered) and could miss significant time.

Their other young prospect, Domantas Sabonis, is an impressive rebounder and a rugged interior scorer, but unlike his old man, he does not necessarily stretch the floor at the 4 and/or 5 positions.

There is not a doubt in my mind Russ will come out next with guns ablazing. He’ll put up some gaudy counting stats and a number mind-goggling highlights that’ll make you question human lifeform as we know it.

But will this season be a replica of Kobe Bryant‘s 2005-06 season (a.k.a., historical individual campaign on a bad team), or can OKC find the right synergistic elements to truly compete?

That, I don’t have the answer for; but there’s one thing I do know, I’m not missing a single Thunder game next year.

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Brace Yourselves For The Full Russell Westbrook Experience?

By Aaron Mah | Jul 31, 2016