The NBA Finals aren’t even over yet, and we’ve already got a major bit of news regarding a potential Nuggets free agent. According to reports, reigning EuroLeague champs, Hapoel Tel Aviv, have made initial contact with Russell Westbrook, and they are preparing to offer the former NBA MVP a contract offer with a salary “never seen before in European basketball”.
To put things in context, the highest-paid players currently in the EuroLeague make roughly 3-5 million Euros per year, which comes out to about $3.4-5.7 million. Fans may remember Greek club Olympiacos famously luring Josh Childress overseas from the NBA for a three-year, $20 million contract.
Considering different tax breaks in Greece, that deal was considered to have an NBA valuation of $32.5 million. Given these figures and the reporting, it’s fair to assume the offer for Westbrook will likely come in around $10 million a season.
Westbrook has player option with Nuggets
The first matter of business for Westbrook and the Nuggets will be a decision on his player option. The Nuggets signed Russ last summer to a two-year veteran minimum deal with the second year holding a player option.
Russ can opt in for just under $3.5 million for next season, or opt out and become an unrestricted free agent. He played well last season, so there is reason to believe he could get more than that on the open market.
There will be NBA teams in need of a veteran like Westbrook to run their offense in stretches, just like Denver did last year. Unfortunately for the Nuggets, some of those teams will probably be able to offer more than the minimum, and perhaps a better chance at winning a title, one of the few feats that has eluded Westbrook throughout his Hall-of-Fame career.
Overseas offer likely higher than any from NBA
But while Russ may earn more than the minimum, it’s unlikely he’ll find any contract offer as lucrative as the one it sounds like he’ll receive from Hapoel Tel Aviv. At this point in his career, Russ certainly doesn’t need the money and would probably value a chance at winning an NBA title over anything else.
At the same time, professional basketball careers are short, and Westbrook doesn’t have many years left. He may want to maximize his earning potential and make sure he gets every dollar he can to provide generational wealth for his family.
If that’s the case, this overseas offer may be appealing to Russ. He’d have a shorter season and would instantly be one of the best players in the league with a chance to carve out an entirely new basketball legacy, dominating the second-best league on earth.
There’s really not much the Nuggets can do about this situation, it’s just another complication in their offseason. They’ll have to hope that Westbrook wants to keep playing in the NBA, that he loved his season in Denver, and he’d like to run it back with the Nuggets and try and win a title.