For years one of the biggest questions and head-scratchers surrounding Oklahoma City Thunder has been just what to do with Russell Westbrook. He plays the point guard position but is that truly the best position for him. Often people believed that he would be a better fit to play a shooting guard. It would help the Thunder in the long run.
Can The Oklahoma City Thunder And Russell Westbrook Agree To Change?
Where It All Started
Westbrook was drafted by the Seattle Supersonics, now Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008, and ever since then, people have often questioned Westbrook. From the beginning, Westbrook was brought in to play the point guard position. One of the things people loved about him was his ability to push the ball up the floor. Running an uptempo style of play. Extremely good and effective for a young team. The problem was Westbrook would always be going at 100 mph and as a point guard, you have to learn and understand when to go 100 mph and tone it down to 50 mph when needed. But for Westbrook that seemed impossible.
Growth And Maturity
As the years went on it was clear that Westbrook was stuck in his ways. Even was shown to be a bit of a hothead as well. He was deemed selfish, a ball hog, not a team player. Often seen jacking up shots and not doing his duties as a point guard distributing and sharing the ball and running the offense. Many fans developed a love-hate relationship with him. Some even believe it was this very attitude and playing style that drove Kevin Durant away to join the Golden State Warriors. Westbrook eventually made a change and in 2016 he won his first ever MVP award while being the first player to average a triple-double since Oscar Robinson himself, the result was still the same as the Thunder accomplished another first-round exit.
Last word
As nice as triple doubles are they haven’t been doing well for The Thunders playoff hopes as The Thunder are currently out of the playoffs after being eliminated by the Portland Trailblazers in dramatic fashion. Westbrook went on to average another triple-double this year making that three seasons in a row which is a very impressive feat for anyone. But he also averaged lows in shooting percentages at 36.0% from the field and 32.4% from three-point range. It begs the question that maybe it’s time to experiment having Westbrook play a different role. Move him to the shooting guard position and bring in a solid pure point guard to run the show. Having Westbrook playing off the ball for the first time in his career.
There are many respectable candidates for the role one name that comes to mind is Rajon Rondo. Rondo is excellent in distributing and setting others up. Combine that with the scoring capabilities of Westbrook that could be a force to be reckoned. In conclusion, I think moving Westbrook might, in fact, be the appropriate change needed. Then again that’s a change Westbrook has to make.
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