The Oklahoma City Thunder are in quite the spot following the trade that sent Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers, a crucial step in the team’s acquisition of Kawhi Leonard. The haul the team received included a whole lot of first-round draft picks and prized rookie guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, pieces that imply that the team has an eye on the future.
Despite this, there are a whole lot of players on the roster who are in win-now mode, chief among them is the team’s superstar guard, Russell Westbrook. As such, a new report indicates that it’s plausible Westbrook might be in his final days as a member of the franchise.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN brings word that the Thunder are opening up discussions with Westbrook’s agent about what the future holds. This includes the possibility of a trade.
Oklahoma City’s All-Star guard Russell Westbrook and his agent, Thad Foucher, are engaged with Thunder GM Sam Presti about the next steps of Westbrook’s career, including the possibility of a trade prior to the start of next season, league sources told ESPN.
The two sides have 11 years of history together and both understand that the time has likely come to explore trade possibilities for Westbrook, league sources tell ESPN.
There were reports that the Thunder were looking to get creative with moving other players on the roster to help Westbrook and George, but the latter’s trade request and subsequent trade threw everything into a state of limbo. It might not be easy to find a suitor for Westbrook if only for his contract — he has four years and around $170 million left on his current deal — but it is safe to assume teams that are capable of pulling this off will be eager to try and acquire the former league MVP.
