11:58 am: Westbrook will sign a one-year, minimum-salary contract James Ham of the Kings Beat confirms (Twitter link). Ham is one of several reporters who have stated that the deal is expected to become official on Thursday.
11:13 am: Free agent point guard Russell Westbrook has agreed to sign with the Kings, agent Jeff Schwartz tells Shams Charania of ESPN.
Westbrook has been linked to Sacramento since the start of free agency. Earlier in the summer, there was a sense that the team would need to trade a guard in order to balance its roster and create an opening in the rotation for Westbrook, but Charania reported last week that there was still “strong mutual interest” between the former MVP and the Kings. Now the two sides are in agreement on a deal.
According to Charania, Westbrook has bonds with Kings veterans Domantas Sabonis, DeMar DeRozan, and Zach LaVine, as well as assistant general manager B.J. Armstrong, who used to be a player agent. And while the Kings are relatively deep in the backcourt, with Malik Monk, Keon Ellis, and Devin Carter on their bench, they lacked an experienced traditional point guard behind Dennis Schröder.
Westbrook, who will turn 37 last month, has transitioned into a complementary role in recent years after earning nine All-Star nods earlier in his career. Last season, he appeared in 75 games for Denver, making 36 starts and playing 27.9 minutes per night. He registered averages of 13.3 points, 6.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game, with a shooting line of .449/.323/.661.
Although Westbrook earned praise from some Nuggets teammates and coaches for his motor and competitiveness, his playing style results in plenty of turnovers (3.2 per game last season) and he’s not a reliable outside shooter, which can create lineup and spacing issues.
Those were presumably among the reasons why he remained unsigned until three-and-a-half months into free agency after declining a $3.47M player option in June. However, new general manager Scott Perry views Westbrook as a good fit for the “high motor, high effort” culture he wants to establish in Sacramento, per Charania.
The details of Westbrook’s new contract are unclear, but there’s a spot for him on the Kings’ projected 15-man roster. The team is currently carrying 13 players on fully guaranteed contracts, with Ellis and Terence Davis on non-guaranteed deals. Westbrook and Ellis are presumably on track to fill those last two openings, with Davis the odd man out.
Assuming he signs a one-year, minimum-salary contract, which seems like a relatively safe bet, Westbrook would earn a $3,634,153 salary in 2025/26 while the club carries a cap hit of $2,296,274.
Wow
Good for him. Still an NBA talent
Westbrook has been a deep bench guy/not an NBA talent since 2021-present. VORP agrees he’s barely a regular here. 0.5 VORP last year. Nah, he’s fallen off.
He’s in the NBA though…
So is Pat Spencer, who also isn’t an NBA level talent, your point?
Bench guys aren’t NBA talent? What?
you were just bashing Westbrook in your other comments, Bonercat.
Bashing his fit with the Kings is very different than saying he’s not talented enough to be on an NBA roster.
New version, same issues.
I guess top ten in 6th man of the year voting means deep bench/not NBA to you.
Let’s just have 5 man rosters from now on
Why? There is a log jam at both guard spots and a need to let the guys on the roster get minutes.
Made more sense if Malik/Carter/Ellis had been moved but they didn’t. My best guess is they’re positioning themselves to get rid of one of those 3 and not need to make a move for a guard afterwards.
Kangz are so back.
Westbrook is the missing piece. A team like the running rebels were at one time all offense no defense.
You are correct. But people fall in love with names. And only the Kings are making move like this. Worst franchise in sports. Maybe competing with the browns
Without Fox Sabonis is your ast leader. Without Schroder there isn’t a PG guard who avg more than 1ast. Monk, DeM, Zach are all SG/Wings. Westbrook is a solid pickup. He and Schroder give you a decent PG combo. There is no logjam at PG.
Rockets should have made room to sign Westbrook. They will regret it …
They couldn’t in the preseason even if they had wanted to.
They just picked up Carter’s 3rd year option. There is no chance they envision Carter as a 2 going forward especially with how jammed that spot is.
Almost all minutes that would potentially go to Westbrook should go to Carter to see what you have. Not taking flyers on a turnover machine who couldn’t hit air if he jumped out of a plane.
He’s in the NBA though
We are talking about the Kings though, and it’s only a smidge over $5 mil. They may think he will level up in year 2 and become tradable.
Not going to claim I know Carter. At 22 yrs old and only played 11 mins last year. He doesn’t bring what Russ brings. If anything Russ can push him to perform. It’s one year lol. Imo Russ gets a bad rap. He can definitely help the Kings imo.
Don’t necessarily disagree that he can be a culture guy but he hasn’t really shown that since exiting OKC. My larger point is that in a season that will determine the big picture roster going forward, allowing Russ to take minutes away from guys who need to prove themselves just for the sake of false competitiveness is a bad choice.
Such a KANGZ move.
Bottom 4 finish incoming, baby!!!
As expected. He is productive at the vet min, certainly should be better than Carter.
Great signing. Westbrook, a former MVP, is just a heck of an athlete; also, he should be best mentor to younger players.
All Russ will have younger players doing is saying: “wow, how do you even clang the ball off the low right corner of the backboard while doing an uncontested layup?”
Bottom 4 finish – SEALED.
I really love that you’re just out here rage baiting yourself lmao.
Kings fans more than anyone on earth know how disappointing and unappealing this franchise is. Your “water is wet” predictions make you look like more of a fool than any Kings fan.
Also, you better be the real Davey J because there was a really great poster by the name of “Baby J” whose entire account got nuked after a day and a half because a certain someone cried to admin. I think parody is disgraceful and should carry a death penalty punishment!!
If you let the FankenStein get to you lol. Need to take a step back. He doesn’t care about balling. Only hugging his Curry doll. I feel your pain bro. Knicks have been bashed since Ewing left. Now all the haters have gone into witness protection. Keep the faith …….. Sabonis and DeM are HOFers.
I imagine this is probably his last stop
You never know – he might get a retirement deal with OKC in the future
He hasn’t played for the Hornets or Nets yet, so I wouldn’t bet against him continuing to play after it inevitably doesn’t work out in Sacramento.
He’s gonna be 37 years old in a few weeks, a Hall of Famer who always plays hard, and still playing hoops for money in the NBA.
But haters are definitely gonna hate.
What a great move. Get out there and run, push the ball. No one is stopying Derozan and Lavine in the open court. This team will look much like the early 2000s Nets
What has changed your view on the Kings so drastically in the last 4 months? I can’t tell if you are trolling incredibly hard or are actually just delusional.
What was my view 4 months ago? Since your keepings tabs and all
It’s possible he has confused you with little Dunker MVP guy. “Lil d”
I did the same thing until this week when he replied to one of your comments. Understandable mistake “if” that’s the case here.
Yeah i just noticed they copied me. Flattering, really lol. We are not the same.
Hahaha that was definitely the case. I feel like Im seeing double lol
Sick roster bro.
Finally. He’s going to be the comedic relief we’ll need during the season. Him and LeBozo.
If you think “LeBozo’ is funny, not sure if you’re idea of comic relief is the same as mine.