According to Woj, the terms of the contract extension are three years for $85 million.
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Westbrook’s current contract expires after next season, with the new deal adding at least two years while escalating his salary from $17.8 million to $26.5 million per year.
For the rest of the National Basketball Association, particularly the Lakers, it means that Westbrook will be off the market until 2018, when the player option in his deal kicks in and allows the point guard to become a free agent after that season.
The implications of the extension are that barring a trade, the Thunder are getting an extra season of Westbrook guaranteed.
In Rio de Janeiro, where he is part of the US Olympic team, Durant said he wouldn’t immediately be reaching out to Westbrook to discuss his decision to stay in Oklahoma City.
The two played together in Oklahoma City for eight seasons, earning a playoff spot six times and making it to the NBA Finals once.
Now, Westbrook can turn his attention to recruiting a new star to join the intriguing mix of youth and athleticism that the Thunder have assembled. That meant the Oklahoma city Thunder had to remove it’s qualifying offer to restricted free agent Dion Waiters to free up the salary cap to keep Westbrook. You guys have basically kind of raised me. But once that happened, I told [GM] Sam [Presti], ‘What’s next?’ To me, that’s just my mentality: What’s the next thing we need to do to help our team win?
“As excited as I am, I’m also grateful because you have an opportunity for a legacy player to put his stamp on continuing with the organization”, Presti said.
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Westbrook finished fourth in MVP voting previous year after averaging nearly a triple-double with 23.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 10.4 assists. “There is, I think, even more room for him to grow and you’re to see an even better player over time”. He went on to say loyalty is his No. 1 option and something he stands by.
