Before the present NBA season, the Oklahoma City Thunder exerted tremendous effort to assemble their own super-team. The blockbuster moves began in July, 2017, when they traded for Paul George.
A couple of months later, in September, the Oklahoma City Thunder welcomed Carmelo Anthony (also via trade). Four days after that, the franchise rewarded reigning league MVP, Russell Westbrook, a lucrative deal. With the trio on the roster, the expectations skyrocketed for the Thunder.
However, during OK3's first games of the 2017-18 NBA regular season, they struggled.
There were losing streaks here and there, but as the campaign progressed, they figured out how to win together. By the end of the regular season, Oklahoma City finished fourth in the Western Conference with a 48-34 record.
Despite this, many continued to criticize the Thunder. Especially with the way their year ended. Russell Westbrook and company got eliminated in the first round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs. Wonder rookie Donovan Mitchell and the Utah Jazz needed only six games to dispatch the Thunder.
Due to what many are considering as a failed experiment, it became highly likely that OK3 is heading towards disbandment. The first member that might be on his way out of Oklahoma City? Russell Westbrook.
Time's up?
Russell Westbrook took the role of leader when Kevin Durant parted ways with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Under Westbrook's leadership, the Thunder remained playoff contenders, though they have not found a way to make it past the first round.
Perhaps the silver lining in this is Russell Westbrook's continuous growth as a player.
In the absence of Durant, the former UCLA standout became a triple-double machine, which earned him the NBA MVP award in the previous season. Though with true success being distant to the Thunder, ESPN's Zach Lowe mentioned in a recent podcast that an "increasing number of people around the league" believes it is time for the organization to end the relationship with Westbrook.
According to Lowe, these people think Oklahoma City must trade Westbrook. Indeed, this might be an asinine idea, but nowadays in the NBA, anything can happen. As several prominent players have stated, it is all about business and at the end of the day, teams only care about winning.
Back home
If in any scenario the Oklahoma City Thunder decided to deal away Russell Westbrook, the Los Angeles Lakers are sure to be involved. He has an identical case with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.
Similar to the two, Russell Westbrook is from California and fans in Los Angeles are clamoring for him to get back home, and join the Lakers. The purple and gold franchise has a bevy of young talent, though right now its executives are seeking for a superstar, who may guide the squad back in the postseason.
