From a maximum salary of 47 million to a basic salary of 3 million! The fastest player in the NBA has retreated, you are indeed a hero who has no use.

With the Nuggets being eliminated by the Timberwolves, all traditional superstars in the NBA were wiped out this year, and the era of young stars being the leader is still coming. Look at the end of those traditional super giants. George, Paul and Durant missed the playoffs, James, Harden and Leonard stopped in the first round, and Curry and Westbrook fell in the second round. Among them, most old-school superstars, and the capital to get maximum salary contracts, still have the ability to be the absolute core of a team. However, a small number of them are indeed at the age of retirement, and their personal abilities have declined severely in recent years. For example, Paul led the team to the Finals in 21 years, and broke the NBA historical record in 22 years by 14 of 14 shots in a single game in the playoffs, but now he has completely become a role player and can only assist young people in the Spurs.

For example, Westbrook fell from the altar step by step from the triple-double king of history, and now he can only sit on the bench obediently. Paul's decline is understandable. After all, he is over 40 years old and is the third largest player in the active league, second only to PJ Tucker and LeBron James. However, Westbrook is relatively young, 4 years younger than Paul, and about the same age as Durant, Curry and others. Did Westbrook's Waterloo come too early? Of course, players like Westbrook have no choice. They rely especially on their athletic ability and explosive power. In the later stages of their career, as they grow older and accumulate injuries, they usually fall rapidly, and they can't run fast or jump high. For example, Derek Ross and Thomas Jr., were both brilliant at their peak, but their abilities quickly faded out of the league's vision after a slither. Westbrook, who was in the Wizards in 21, averaged a large triple-double per game, averaged 22.2 points, 11.5 rebounds and 11.7 assists per game. In May of that year, he was also elected Player of the Month, with 15+ assists in seven consecutive games, and averaging 26.3 points, 13.8 rebounds, 16.1 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He led the Wizards to the buzzer-beating and entering the playoffs. He obviously had the strength of a superstar, but the turning point was when he joined the Lakers. On the one hand, in the past two years since he came to the Lakers, his athletic ability has indeed declined, not as good as his peak period. On the other hand, the most important problem is that Westbrook and the Lakers are not suitable at all. The Lakers cannot provide him with a lot of ball control. Westbrook's offensive rhythm is also incompatible with the entire Lakers team. Westbrook has a fast-breaking style of playing, and runs a lot throughout the game, while the Lakers prefer positional battles and slowly stagger.

After the Lakers spent an embarrassing one and a half seasons, Westbrook's ability plummeted, and he also lost his value. His annual salary in the 22-23 season was 47 million yuan, ranking second in the league at the time after Curry. After being traded by the Lakers in the middle of the season, the Clippers provided him with a one-year minimum salary contract of 785,000 US dollars, and Westbrook also accepted it happily. To be honest, in the past two years with the Clippers, Westbrook has gradually found his position, played more reasonably, and his efficiency has improved a lot compared to the Lakers' period. However, he can no longer return to his triple-double period. In addition, Westbrook is still in a very unlucky way. In the past two years, the Clippers clearly have the most luxurious lineup in the league. Harden, George and Leonard have joined hands, but several stars have lost their chains in the playoffs and were injured every time, and Westbrook has never been able to touch his first championship in his personal career.

Last summer, Westbrook was cut by the Clippers and joined the Nuggets with a two-year, basic salary of 6.8 million. His salary this season is $3.3 million. During the regular season, Westbrook's performance was quite stable. He did not have such a super explosive game and rarely played disaster-level performance. In the playoffs, Westbrook's double-edged sword attributes became more and more obvious, and his personal condition was very different from the first and second rounds. In the first round of the Clippers, Westbrook averaged 14 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1.3 steals per game, with a three-point shooting percentage of 42%, saving his master at critical moments many times. In the second round of the Thunder, Westbrook averaged only 9.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, with a shooting percentage of 35%/22% in both games, averaging positive and negative values ​​of -13.1, and a total positive and negative values ​​of -92, ranking last in the team, and was beaten back to its original form.

In the words of Ethical Hoops, it was a season of ups and downs for Westbrook. He had climaxes and troughs, but from a very objective perspective, the Nuggets' attempt to introduce Westbrook was obviously successful. I look forward to him returning next season. His contract is worth the money. Westbrook has a $3.47 million player option and needs to decide whether to execute it before June 30. However, it is hard to say whether they will trust Westbrook. First of all, Westbrook's risk in the team is still too great, and it is very likely that there are two extremes on the court. Although his contract price is not high, the Nuggets have to allocate a considerable proportion of Westbrook's ball rights, which seems a bit unfair to other players in the team. Secondly, after Jokic was eliminated, he publicly asked the cricket team to strengthen the depth of the lineup, and the Nuggets may make major lineup adjustments this summer. If Westbrook leaves, where will his next stop go? Considering such a big gap in recent years, will Westbrook suddenly announce his retirement?