After Kevin Durant announced that he was bouncing to the Bay Area to play for the Golden State Warriors, fans wondered what would happen to Russell Westbrook. Would they trade him, let him play of the season or offer him a new deal before the season started? No one seemed to know, and with all of the money that was thrown around this summer, many wondered what would happen to the All Star.
Well today there will be no more wondering, as it was revealed by ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne that Westbrook has agreed, in principal, to a renegotiated contract that Adrian Wojnarowski states is a three-year deal worth $85-plus million.
Sources: Russell Westbrook is flying to Oklahoma City on Thursday morning, planning to sign a three-year, $85M-plus contract renegotiation.
Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) August 4, 2016
Before the deal was agreed to, Westbrook was eligible to become a restricted free agent in 2017; but his new contract changes that. According to The Vertical:
The proposed deal would include a player option on the third year, which would clear the way for Westbrook to return to free agency in 2018.
In the structure of a proposed deal, the renegotiation would move Westbrooks salary in 2016-17 from $17.8 million to a $26.5 million max salary. Westbrook would make $28.5 million in 2017-18 and $30.6 million in the third year under the proposed renegotiated deal. Oklahoma City is able to offer the extension because it has the appropriate salary-cap space available.
Although we’re sure than fans will be hating on Durant when he’s introduced the first time in OKC as a member of the Warriors, team management has assured that the cheers will be much louder for Westbrook, and OKC fans can breathe a little easier knowing that the team is committed to winning and not entering rebuilding mode.
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