After a disaster of a time with the Lakers, things were slightly better for Westbrook after he joined the Clippers. Even before his time with the Lakers, Westbrook was one of the more polarizing players in the NBA. Although he used to put up elite numbers, there has always been a debate as to how much he contributes to winning. Even as he ages into his mid-30s and despite a slight loss in athleticism, he still is a force in transition and can put a lot of pressure at the rim when he gets a head of steam. He can make plays for others, and is one of the best rebounding point guards in NBA history. However, he does have many faults that can hurt his team or make him a tough fit playing next to certain players. Primarily, he is not a threat playing off the ball due to his poor outside shooting, and whatever shooting ability he had in his prime seems to have completely abandoned him. He has been a sub-par three-point shooter for his entire career, and his midrange shooting, which used to be a somewhat viable weapon for him, has also fallen off a cliff. Westbrook also hasn't been able to find other ways to be useful when he doesn't have the ball, such as being a good cutter or setting screens. Perhaps more notable though than his outside shooting, Westbrook only shot 58% at the rim with the Lakers, which is just barely above average for his position, according to Cleaning the Glass. When he doesn't finish, he's often out of control and finds himself on the ground under the basket, which leads to 5-on-4 fastbreaks for his opponent. Getting back in transition is not his only defensive issue. Although Westbrook can be disruptive in passing lanes, he gambles too often and can be spacey when defending off the ball. Although he gets a lot of rebounds, sometimes that is due to him hanging around the rim going for rebounds rather than closing out to an open shooter. He gets a lot of assists but is not considered to be a great passer. He has a high assist rate but his assist to usage rate decreased in the last couple years.  Westbrook's showed more acceptance of a smaller role in '22-'23, and at times had good moments for the Clippers. His efficiency numbers in '23-'24 were rough but he was a solid bench piece. Westbrook will be 36 years old as a potential free agent in 2025, and it's hard to think of many teams that would have any interest in Westbrook, let alone give him a big contract, so he may just be signing small contracts for contenders going forward.

Westbrook has a $3.5 million player option for 2025-2026, and if he declines that option he will be an unrestricted free agent with a $2.3 million cap hold and Non-Bird Rights. Due to the increase in the salary cap being fairly high, his minimum salary for '25-'26 is slightly above what his player option amount is for, so he should likely opt out, unless he doesn't think he can get a fully-guaranteed minimum contract as a free agent. Additionally, if he re-signs with Denver on a one-year minimum contract, his cap hit will only be $2.3 million instead of $3.5 million, so him re-signing instead of opting in is mutually beneficial. If Westbrook opts for free agency, the Nuggets will be somewhat limited in their means of re-signing him. Since they will only have his Non-Bird Rights, the most they could offer him using the Non-Bird Exception is a contract starting at $4.4 million. Alternatively, the Nuggets could re-sign Westbrook using their MLE or BAE (if available) if he demands more than $4.4 million. Other teams will have multiple ways to sign Westbrook as even teams without cap space could likely use any of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Room MLE or possibly even the Taxpayer MLE or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. Since he signed a minimum contract in 2024, teams will hope to get him at the minimum in 2025 too.

Kyle Lowry (1 year minimum, 2024) Chris Paul (1 year, $10 million, 2024) Reggie Jackson (1 year minimum, 2024)