When James Harden signed his new supermax deal with the Houston Rockets, it added four seasons and $169.3 million to push his salary over $200 million and giving him the richest contract in NBA history, beating out even the huge contract that Steph Murray received. If Russell Westbrook decides to re-sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder, it would be another supermax contract, this one a five-year deal worth $207 million added to the $28.5 million they are paying him next season. That is the most that any team can pay Westbrook.
What is the supermax contract?
The supermax contract was created by the NBA for James Harden and Russell Westbrook specifically. The new collective bargaining agreement would have screwed over those two players because they were sitting in no-man’s land between the two collective bargaining agreements. The Golden State Warriors took advantage of it first, signing Steph Curry to a new $201 million contract. Next came Harden, who the Houston Rockets signed to be the backbone of their hopeful championship run.
Now, it is the Oklahoma City Thunder and Russell Westbrook’s turn. According to the Oklahoman, Thunder general manager Sam Presti said that there is no “negotiation” going on. The Thunder are offering Russell Westbrook the most that they are allowed to pay him, and the most that any team can pay him, and they are just waiting for him to answer them.
What is keeping Russell Westbrook from answering?
There are two things that are keeping Russell Westbrook from coming to a decision on this new contract extension. First, his wife just had a baby and he told reporters after the season ended for the Oklahoma City Thunder that he was not concerned about a contract extension right now because his new baby is more important.
After Kevin Durant ran out on the Thunder last season, Westbrook was also enjoying his offseason and waited until August to sign an extension.
There is one other reason that Russell Westbrook is not giving the Oklahoma City Thunder an answer right now. Kevin Durant pretended that he was considering staying in Oklahoma City last year and that proved to be a lie as he had no intention of staying.
Westbrook has said that he wants to stay in Oklahoma City but Durant proved you can’t trust a player to tell the truth about loyalty to a team.
The Oklahoma City Thunder signed Paul George to help Russell Westbrook make a championship run this year. However, George is only under a deal where he can opt out in 2018 if he wants to. George did say that, if the Thunder were able to make it to the Western Conference Finals and maybe even upset the Golden State Warriors, he might stay. Westbrook wants to win and that is why he might be waiting to see what happens with the Thunder before making a decision.
