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Russell Westbrook has chosen last year and is left with $ 47 million from his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, confirms Bill Reiter from CBS Sports HQ. While this move is hardly a surprise, Westbrook in particular waited a day before the deadline to make a decision. Now he will at least start the 2022 off-season as a member of the Lakers.
While he had to decide this decision, the news was expected from the end of the season. Westbrook is coming out of the worst season of his career. The Lakers were favorites to win the Western Conference when they acquired it last offseason. They didn’t even get to the round to play with him. He averaged less than 20 points per game for the first time since the 2009-10 season, again shooting below 30 percent with 3 points and never committing himself to improving his defense, movement outside the ball and selection of shots to fit into a team, who already has enough talent to handle the ball.
If Westbrook gave up, he would sacrifice tens of millions of dollars. He simply would not have earned close to the $ 47 million he would have received if he had been available on the open market. His game is largely based on athleticism, but as he turns 34 at the start of the season, this athleticism has a downward trend.
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The Lakers could theoretically still trade Westbrook. In fact, they technically couldn’t until he got involved. But they sent the message throughout the off-season that they did not want to add project capital or accept a long-term salary just to relocate it, despite the obvious need to do so to facilitate the deal. Westbrook’s only value is his expiring salary. Acquiring teams simply will not give up value for him without getting something substantial back.
So for now, it looks like the Lakers will bring back the disappointing list from last season and hope that better health and new coach Darwin Hamm will turn things around.
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