Russell Westbrook can take a couple of different lines of thinking into the new season, and that all depends on what we think he believes about having new guys on the team. Paul George and Carmelo Anthony will want the ball a lot, and we need to know if Westbrook will be pleased to spread the ball around and scoreless. No one thought he would average a triple-double yet again, but can he be content with a new kind of offense that is not his and his alone?
Melo is number three
If the Thunder can convince Melo that he is the third option, Westbrook will probably be happy with the moves the team made.
However, if Melo is going to fight for the ball all the time, Westbrook will be unhappy. He is the best player on the team, and he will have to have the offense go through him even if he does not score on every possession. Carmelo Anthony needs to sit back and do his job without getting in the way so that the younger players can excel.
Paul George plays the post
Westbrook will stay on the outside, and Paul George needs to man the inside of the offense in every game. Westbrook can get the ball to George if George plays his position. However, if George wants to stand in the backcourt with Westbrook, it could get very awkward because now he is playing out of position. Just imagine what it would look like if Westbrook passed to George and George drove to the lane on every possession.
That would be the worst version of the Thunder.
A new plan for the season
The Thunder might have to plan differently for the season. Their new goal might be to make it to the west finals to see what happens against the Warriors. That means that they will be better than the Spurs, and that also means that they will have a chance of beating the Warriors.
I do not think that they could beat the Warriors, but they might give the Warriors a run for their money. All that depends on how happy Westbrook is.
He does not trust anyone
The pain left from Kevin Durant going to the Warriors might be too much for Russell Westbrook, and that would make him very hard to work with if he does not trust anyone.
You might claim that he might not have trusted anyone last year, and that is why he averaged a triple-double. He did not even let Steven Adams talk in a press conference. We do not know what the truth is until we see this team get deep into the season, but Westbrook seems a bit angry still. If he is angry about the way the team is put together, they might not reach their full potential. And, this is after Paul George effectively said that he was thinking of staying in OKC after this season. Westbrook needs to hug it out.
