Unsigned Ex-Lakers Hall of Famer Needs to Retire from NBA as Free Agency Winds Down

It's never easy to say goodbye to the NBA, especially when you're still a pretty durable, pretty athletic dynamo who averaged double-digit scoring numbers on a 50-win team last year.

One of the greatest players in the history of the game remains unsigned almost a month into free agency, and at this stage it's unclear just how much he has left to give to a winning situation.

Future Hall of Fame point guard Russell Westbrook, who'll turn 37 less than a month into the 2025-26 NBA season, can still be a statistically productive player in the league.

Across 75 contests for the 50-32 Denver Nuggets (36 starts) last season, Westbrook averaged 13.3 points on a .449/.323/.661 slash line, 6.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 0.5 blocks. He also finished seventh in Sixth Man of the Year voting.

Westbrook had a miserable playoff showing in 2024, his last year with his hometown L.A. Clippers, but recovered to do a serviceable job off the bench for Denver through two playoff rounds.

Westbrook had an infamously disastrous year-and-a-half run with the Los Angeles Lakers, from 2021-23. He was on a maximum salary, and L.A. had to offload significant championship equity to form what it thought was "Big Three" of Westbrook, LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Instead, Westbrook was an egregious fit alongside James, and the team's payroll couldn't support any of the depth necessary to add the depth that could have helped.

The recamped 2025-26 Nuggets this year, however, are probably happy to be moving on — the team has totally revamped its depth, and has far more efficient scorers on its bench.

At this point, the cons outweigh the pros when it comes to Westbrook's game.

Despite his athleticism, the 6-foot-4 vet has never been a good defender. His instincts on that end of the hardwood are not great, and as he ages he's lost a bit of foot speed. Even at his absolute peak, when he won the 2017 MVP while averaging a 30-point triple-double (31.6 points, to be precise), Westbrook was a mildly below average 3-point shooter.

Now, his jump shooting has fallen off a cliff. He's a career 30.5 percent shooter from distance on 3.6 triple tries a night.

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He remains a solid distributor, a decent scorer in the paint, and a good rebounder for his size. But he holds onto the ball too much and has proven so unreliable in late-game situations (especially during the playoffs) that he essentially can't be played late in fourth quarters anymore.

This is more about legacy than it is about what he can or can't contribute on the court. At best, Westbrook could find himself on a fringe playoff squad that could use some guard depth and veteran leadership, but doesn't have young backcourt prospects waiting in the wings to develop. The Milwaukee Bucks fit that description, but few other teams do who haven't already addressed that issue.

What feels more likely, however, is that a deluded play-in tournament team makes a push for Westbrook, signing a marquee name to a veteran's minimum salary.

The Sacramento Kings and Chicago Bulls make the most sense in this regard, especially if Chicago opts to move on from one of its talented young guards like Ayo Dosunmu or Coby White and pursues a cheaper option.

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At this point, Westbrook's window to be a contributor on a title team has definitely passed. Denver couldn't get it done, and now that window is closed. Westbrook is now a journeyman, having played for six teams over the last seven seasons.

He's still an NBA-caliber player, but he is utterly irrelevant, which is a bit of a bummer to say about one of the most special basketball talents of the 21st century.

The former nine-time All-Star is continuing to build his platform beyond the hardwood. On Monday, he launched a fresh personal newsletter, "Word of Westbrook," trumpeting it as a resource for chatter about basketball, fashion, culture and more.