The Denver Nuggets made the somewhat controversial decision not to bring back Russell Westbrook this season. That decision has now brought Denver ultimate vindication as Westbrook drives his new team right off of the cliff.
Investing in the Russell Westbrook experience in the year 2025 is a big decision. He has reached the point of his career that he is available for a bargain; the Nuggets signed him to a minimum deal with a team option in the summer of 2024.
He played much better than most players on minimum deals, to be sure. He played 75 games, starting 36 of them, averaging 4.9 rebounds and 6.1 assists at age 36. He continued right on into the playoffs, averaging 24.1 minutes per game in the postseason.
Why didn't the Nuggets bring him back on another minimum? There hasn't been an expose revealing the true reason, but we can take a guess: Russell Westbrook Russell-Westbrook-izes your entire team, and it's better to take the option of palying him entirely off the table.
Westbrook plays extremely hard and pushes his teammates to do the same. That is a great thing to have in a role player, but when that player hijacks the offense it's another thing entirely. Last season, Westbrook had a 23.8 percent usage rate (percentage of possessions he ends with a shot or turnover); that was essentially tied with Jamal Murray for second on the team.
The Nuggets felt it was better to move on from Westbrook entirely no matter the "value" and build their team differently. And that decision looks like the right one given how things are going for Westbrook's new team.
Westbrook is killing the Sacramento Kings
The Kings were laughed at for signing Russell Westbrook just prior to the season, but then he stepped in and starting filling up the stat sheet in a major way. He had 18 points in his third game, and entered the starting lineup in Game 4. His first triple double came around in Game 9.
Those sound like positives! Westbrook was signed for a minimum and he is putting up triple doubles. 23 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists in a win. That's great work!
It also proved to be a mirage, a misdirection. While Westbrook has entered the starting lineup full-time over Dennis Schroder, he is not driving winning for the Sacramento Kings. Instead, he is filling up possessions, packing the box score, and overall anchoring the team down to the league's basement.
In his last 17 games, Russell Westbrook has had a positive on/off just three times. He has had at least five turnovers in a game five times. No minimum player should have the ball enough to turn it over five times! Yet Westbrook has been handed the keys to the team despite his very painful limitations.
On a team with Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Malik Monk and Domantas Sabonis, Russell Westbrook leads the team in usage rate. His turnover rate is a robust 20.1 percent, 6th-highest in the entire NBA. His PER of 15.9 is just barely above league average; fine for a player on a minimum, but deadly for a player leading the team in usage rate.
Part of this is a problem of the Kings' own making; supposed starting point guard Dennis Schroder has been even worse than Westbrook, which is why head coach Doug Christie replaced him in the starting lineup.
Still, the Kings are experiencing all of the pain of the Russell Westbrook experience. Despite the "bargain" he is in the bottom quarter of players in impact when you look at most advanced metrics. That the rest of the team is also playing terribly only exacerbates the problem.
The Nuggets moved on from Westbrook -- and they couldn't have been more right. Their vindication is through the roof and will only grow as the season goes on.