Written by Tim Bonetemps at Washington Post.com
Russell Westbrook stood on a stage in New York on Monday night, moments after winning the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award, and began delivering a long list of thank yous. He mentioned virtually everyone who works for the Oklahoma City Thunder — many of whom were in the building — and then asked five of his teammates to join him.
It was a fitting capstone to what was a remarkable season for Westbrook and a cool moment for a franchise that was gut-punched last summer when Kevin Durant left in free agency. It also made it seem certain that Westbrook — whose award makes him eligible for the new designated player exception, allowing him to sign a greater-than-$200 million contract extension with the Thunder when free agency begins Saturday – will stay in Oklahoma City for the long term.
But when Westbrook was asked a few minutes later about the potential of signing an extension with the Thunder, he did everything he could to avoid an answer.
“Man, tonight is so important for me, and obviously with the contract and stuff coming up, it’s not really on my mind at the moment, honestly,” Westbrook said. “I’m just overwhelmed with a tremendous amount of blessings I’ve been able to get to be able to get this award.
“Man, I’m just thinking about tonight, and then after that, I’ll move on.”
Not the most reassuring of answers for a Thunder fan.
Westbrook’s situation is one of a few fascinating ones involving star players and small market teams entering free agency this offseason, which kicks off at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. All have the potential to show whether the efforts to strengthen a team’s ability to hang onto its stars have been successful – or if the league has to go back to the drawing board.
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