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Los Angeles Lakers guard Russell Westbrook is exercising his option to play for $ 47.1 million next season, a person directly aware of the decision said Tuesday.
Neither Westbrook (a past NBA MVP and one of the league’s top 75 players) or the Lakers publicly disclosed the decision, so the person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. ESPN first reported Westbrook’s decision.
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If Westbrook chose to be a free agent, that was certainly not a surprise given that Westbrook did not command nearly $ 47.1 million this season. He will be 34 next season and will be 15 in the NBA.
Westbrook had to decide on options until Wednesday. This marks the fifth and final season of the $ 207 million deal with Oklahoma City Thunder. Since then, nine All-Stars have traveled a lot — he was traded to Houston in 2019, to Washington in 2020, and moved to the Lakers in 2021.
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Created what it was supposed to be a great trio: Westbrook with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
It didn’t work as planned. The Lakers suffered injuries throughout the season, missed the playoffs, fired Frank Vogel after the season, and Westbrook took a lot of responsibility for what happened.
He averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists in 78 games against the Lakers. Only four other players (Denver’s two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić, Philadelphia’s James Harden, Dallas’ Luka Doncic, and San Antonio’s Dejounte Murray) are higher than Westbrook had in these three statistical categories. The season ended on average.
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However, his average score was the lowest since 2009-10, and his 3-point percentage (29.8%) ranked 251st out of 278 NBA players who tried at least 100 shots across the arc this season. Was ranked in.