Russell Westbrook of the Denver Nuggets, up against the New York Knicks.
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 29: Russell Westbrook #4 of the Denver Nuggets blocks a shot by Jalen Brunson #11 of the New York Knicks during their game at Madison Square Garden on January 29, 2025 in New York City. User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
With just a couple of hours to go until the start of the NBA’s summer free bonanza, the New York Knicks have been named at the last minute as a likely suitor for free agent point guard Russell Westbrook.
In their final round-up of NBA news before the 6pm Eastern Time official free agency beginning, Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line put Westbrook’s name in the Knicks’ crosshairs, in a way that has not been seen before. And in a follow up report, Stein adds one key detail – that the feeling is mutual.
Competing With Sacramento
Westbrook had a player option for a guaranteed minimum salary contract with the Denver Nuggets for the 2025-26 season, but declined it two weeks ago, in a move initially widely anticipated to have been done for a slight pay rise from the Nuggets. Making himself available in this way, though, has seen Westbrook attract multiple suitors, with the Stein Line crew also listing the Sacramento Kings as a team interested in him.
The Kings, however, are supposedly set on Dennis Schröder as their point guard target, even per Stein’s own reporting. This does not prevent a Westbrook signing, necessarily, given the size of the team’s point guard hole. But it might give the Knicks a leg up in the market.
If so, they might need it. In a bidding war, the Knicks can offer Westbrook a better team, a higher profile – but not any more money.
Knicks Have Little To Spend
As one of the biggest-market teams in sports, the Knicks have always had deep pockets, and they have been using them. But in the NBA, spending power is not the same as pocket depth, and because of last season’s trade for Karl-Anthony Towns, the Knicks are bristling right up against the second apron.
Between Towns ($53,142,264), OG Anunoby ($39,568,966), Jalen Brunson ($34,944,001), Mikal Bridges ($24,900,000), Josh Hart ($19,472,240) and Mitchell Robinson ($12,954,546), the Knicks have as-near-as-is $200 million spent on just six of their rotation alone. Per the rules of the second apron, any team operating over it can only use the minimum salary exception to sign external free agents, which essentially limits the Knicks to the same.
Payroll concerns have already cost the Knicks Precious Achiuwa, who they will have to let walk in free agency. They will therefore be hoping that Westbrook has made enough money in his storied career that fit will become his primary concern.
Knicks Still Lacking A Coach
The good news for the Knicks is that that is exactly what Westbrook did last season when he joined Denver.
Last season for the Nuggets, Westbrook averaged 13.3 points and 6.1 assists per game in a hybrid starter/sixth man role, bringing his usual fearlessness, aggression, speed and injection of tension even into the latter stages of his career. He has diminished from his nightly triple-double peak, but is still a tour de force on the court. And while it is a fun thought experiment to try and imagine how that mercurial nature would have worked – or not worked – under the coaching of Tom Thibodeau, it does not apply now.
That said, the fact that the Knicks still do not know who their head coach will be for next season could be something of a problem for Westbrook. While his strengths and flaws are well documented, Westbrook is not the easiest player to place in a system. When he is on the court, he generally is the system, in good ways and bad. The Knicks can offer him a competitive team, the Garden, and Brunson to facilitate easy offence, but they cannot tell him what the requirements of the role will be right now. Time will tell if the lure of the city will be enough.