In a bit of an unfortunate twist after a great first season in Denver, Russell Westbrook declined his player option on Friday morning, choosing to become an unrestricted free agent. When the Nuggets signed Russ last offseason to a minimum deal, they gave him a player option for year two.
Westbrook had fallen out of favor around the league, so there was some concern over Denver giving him the second season. But Russ had a strong year in Denver, playing heavy minutes and carrying a large playmaking burden, mostly off the bench.
He proved that he definitely still belongs in the league and can still contribute at a high level for a contending team. While that was great for the 2024-25 Denver Nuggets, it was not so good for the future, as Russ essentially played his way off the team.
Westbrook outplayed his Nuggets’ contract
He returned much greater value than that of a minimum contract, making the decision to opt out a pretty easy one when things were all said and done. It’s not like he’ll have some crazy offers on the open market now, but he should be a sought after free agent for many teams who can outbid the Nuggets for his services.
Teams like the Mavericks and Bucks, with injuries to Kyrie Irving and Damian Lillard, could be looking for a stop-gap point guard to come in and run the offense, and Westbrook could perfectly fit the bill. There are plenty of other contending teams that could use his veteran leadership and sparkplug abilities off the bench as well.
Then there’s the outside threat from overseas. There is a team in Tel Aviv preparing a monstrous offer to lure Westbrook away from the NBA completely. Russ will have plenty of options on the table, and sadly, returning to Denver may not be the most appealing one.
Nuggets can still bring Russ back, but won’t be easy
While this decision does open up another roster spot for the Nuggets, it may not be such good news. The minimum salary that he opened up won’t give Denver any more meaningful cap space or financial flexibility. They’ll now be tasked with the difficult challenge of finding a replacement for Westbrook with a minimum contract.
They could still sign Russ to a new minimum deal, bumping the salary up incrementally from last year. They could also use the taxpayer midlevel exception to give Russ a raise and bring him back. But neither of those are great options and would only further limit what the Nuggets can do this offseason.