The national narrative on this is quite frustrating. "Westbrook is committing to the Thunder long term!" "He's rewarding them for their loyalty to him!" Did Durant "commit long term" to the Warriors this summer when he signed a two year deal with a player option after the first? No, obviously not. Yet that's basically what Westbrook just did, except he made the deal a year early, and got himself a $9M raise this year in the process. He's still going to opt out after the 2018 season when he's eligible for the 35% max, so all he's done is added one year and $37M to his existing contract. This was a purely financial move for him, and a pretty brilliant one at that. But it in no way demonstrates any "long term commitment" to the Thunder.
Ah, the power of a hyphen. I thought Westbrook was resigning. as in quitting. WTF???? Then I realized you meant re-signing. As in staying. Oh.
(Prompted by that "I ain't leavin" picture) Why did it take me so long to realize Westbrook looks just like Bodie from The Wire? I googled it and apparently the thought had been had before:
I just don't get why everyone is convinced Russ will win MVP next season even if he just wins 45 games. Dame finished with 44 wins, some sick counting stats, a worse team last season than Russ has now, and only finished 8th in MVP votes.
Dame's counting stats are far below Westbrook's when he's playing alongside Durant. Without him, he'll probably win the scoring title again. If the Thunder stay in the playoffs, MVP is not out of reach.
