![Russell Westbrook cannot stay. [Image Credit: Keith Allison/Wikimedia Commons]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/9/30/660x290/b_502x220x82/russell-cannot-stay-keith-allison-via-wikimedia-commons_1602753.jpg "Russell Westbrook cannot stay. [Image Credit: Keith Allison/Wikimedia Commons]")
Russell Westbrook has signed his max deal with the Thunder, and he will make over $200 million to play. However, he is not going to stay throughout this whole deal. This will come to a point where he becomes the big trade piece that signals the end of an era in OKC. The team has tried to give him some good pieces, but they probably cannot compete with the Warriors. This means that the Thunder will have to break this team up when Melo and Paul George leave. There will be no reason to pay Russell all that money, or he will start getting very interested in winning.
So, what happens when the Thunder tire of paying him too much money?
Sadly, he will not stay
There is no scenario in which the Thunder can get enough pieces around Russell Westbrook to keep him with the team throughout the course of this contract. They will see the writing on the wall, or he will get tired of it and ask for a trade. There is no reason for this team to pay him that much money when they know that they do not have a number two to play with him. Paul George and Melo will both be gone at the end of the season, and the Warriors will win another title. The experiment will have failed, and the Thunder will be left with one rich guy and four others who have to start.
What about Steven Adams?
Steven Adams is a very good player, but he is not a good enough number two option for Westbrook. There is no team in the NBA that wants to have a true big man because they know that the league has passed them by. Adams can play good defense, and he can probably score a few more points per game. However, he is not a very attractive person to play with because true big men like this cannot score enough points in the new NBA.
Westbrook might have convinced himself that he will be ok playing with Adams, but he will learn soon that he is wrong.
Loyalty leaves town
Westbrook signed the deal with the Thunder because he is still upset with Kevin Durant for leaving, winning a title, and not feeling bad about it. He is misplacing his values, and he is using his need for loyalty against himself.
Yes, he will make a ton of money, but he will not be any closer to winning a title. He can hold up the shield for the moral victory, but the Warriors could win several more titles while Russell is sitting in Okc with his money and his philosophical superiority.
Russell Westbrook has earned the money he will be paid, but OKC cannot keep him. He will get sick of losing out to better teams, and Russell will beg for a trade eventually.
