When Kevin Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors, many thought it was only a matter of time before Russell Westbrook was traded. And whether or not Westbrook was traded, many also thought he would up and sign with a big-market squad in 2017.
A big-market squad like the New York Knicks.
This thought process, of course, proved to be way off base. Westbrook signed an extension with the Thunder, and won’t be a free agent until at least 2018.
Carmelo Anthony, for his part, isn’t surprised the point guard stuck with Oklahoma City, per the New York Post‘s Marc Berman:
“Yeah, to be honest with you, that soon [I was surprised],’’ Anthony said. “But that’s Russ. Russ don’t give a damn about nothing. It’s all about what he want to do, when he want to do it, how he want to do it. I think he wanted to show he was loyal to OKC.”
Anthony believes Westbrook is finally the man in OKC and wants to milk it a few more years after being second fiddle to Durant.
“I can tell that he was waiting for a moment like this where he could go shine,’’ Anthony said. “He wanted to be the leader of that team, regardless of if KD came back or not. He wanted that moment. You could just tell that his vibe was different, his energy was different. You could tell when people want those moments.”
Anthony champions a point of view shared by many others. Durant’s departure was thought to possibly rekindle Westbrook’s loyalty to city and team, not weaken it. And he proved just that by delaying his foray into free agency.
But “delaying” is the key word here. The Thunder and Westbrook still face the same decision, the same fork in the road, only they bought themselves until 2018—Westbrook has a player option for 2018-19—to come up with an answer. If Oklahoma City doesn’t make the playoffs, or fails to make noise once it gets there, the summer will once again be spent trying to figure out whether Westbrook will hit the chopping block.
So cheer up, Knicks fans. Monday night’s bout with the Thunder is still a recruitment opportunity of sorts. You may support and try to woo Westbrook accordingly.
