They say that nobody is 100% in the playoffs and that was extremely evident watching the Nuggets limp to the finish line of their playoff series with the Thunder. Some injuries were easier to spot than others, but it appears Russell Westbrook was dealing with some serious issues with his right hand that weren’t immediately apparent.
On Tuesday, Westbrook announced on his blog, The World of Westbrook, that he underwent surgery on his right hand to repair two breaks that occurred during the season. Russ appeared to tweak the injury during the OKC series while swiping at the ball on defense.
It’s ahrd to tell just how much he was impacted as he played well and shot the lights out during the team’s first round series win over the Clippers, but completely fell off a cliff in round two against the Thunder.
Overall, Russ had an excellent first season in Denver. After being signed to a vet minimum contract, he averaged 13.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game in just under 28 minutes while appearing in 75 games for the Nuggets.
The consistency and durability were huge for the Nuggets, even coming from the 36-year old Russ. Knowing that some of that production came with at least one broken finger makes his contributions that much more impressive.
Westbrook has June 29 deadline for player option
All of this hovers over Westbrook as he has just over a month to decide whether to exercise his $3.7 million player option for next season. Most have assumed that Russ played well enough this season to opt out and hit the market, hoping to earn a larger deal elsewhere.
But now, as he’ll be coming off a surgery to his dominant hand, maybe he decides to opt in and take the stability of his guaranteed deal and role with the Nuggets. Denver would certainly love to have Westbrook back for that price. All the team has to work with this summer is the TPMLE and vet minimums.
It’s hard to envision them using those limited assets to bring in a playerwho can contribute more than Russ did this season. He’s far from a perfect player, and his warts are ugly, and seem to show up at the worst possible times.
But this season, the bigger issue was that the Nuggets had no other options when Russ didn’t have it. It was never fair to him how much he was relied on. If the team can get Westbrook to opt in, and they can add some more depth in other ways, giving the team some versatility, and allowing Russ to focus more on his strengths, he could be in for an even bigger season in Denver.
For what it’s worth, Westbrook wrote on his blog, “I’m grateful for everyone’s support all year and I can’t wait to be back out there at 100% soon. The comeback is already in motion. #WhyNot”. There’s no reason to believe he won’t be back to 100% for the start of next season, and if this surgery allows the Nuggets to keep him at a discount, all the better.