He has only earned 8 million in the past three years, but he can output 13+5+6 per game. Why is the former MVP still unwilling to be concerned about?

Since the free market opened this year, many players have been signed, but there are exceptions in everything. Some of the stars we are more familiar with have not yet signed new contracts, such as 40-year-old Chris Paul, 38-year-old Al Horford, and our protagonist today, Russell Westbrook, 36-year-old. In the past three years, Westbrook has played for the Lakers, Clippers and Nuggets respectively, and has only received a total salary of $8 million. Almost every time he has signed a contract with the team with a basic salary. For Westbrook now, the salary is no longer what he cares about. What he cares most is that he can win a championship before the end of his career.

Last season, Westbrook averaged 13.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game, and can be said to be one of the Nuggets' best players. In addition, he has also made many magical performances in the playoffs. The team was able to fight the final champion Thunder to a tiebreak battle, which is inseparable from Westbrook's efforts. However, until now, he has not been able to get a new contract. Although there are rumors that he is likely to join the Kings, the Kings are not competitive at all compared to the Nuggets. The only thing worth Westbrook joining is probably similar to Los Angeles where his family lives. Naming performed very well last season, why can't Westbrook get too many quotes from teams? Let’s analyze it in detail below to see what problems it has!

1. The ball still needs to be held in large quantities, but the conversion efficiency has taken a sharp turn.

Westbrook's biggest problem now is that his playing style is really difficult to be compatible with most teams. Indeed, his contract requirements are not high. As long as he has an average salary of nearly 5 million, he can get Westbrook. But the problem is that behind the contract that seems to be very cost-effective is Westbrook's playing style. Even though he is 36 years old now, Westbrook still needs to hold the ball in large quantities, which creates a great contradiction. If he is placed in the starting lineup, the team's core must share the ball with him in order to maximize his value. But after all, there is only one Nikola Jokic, and few core players can still maintain sufficient contribution to the team while handing over the ball. After being placed on the bench, Westbrook not only holds a lot of balls, but also needs to undertake enough scoring tasks in the second team. But the problem is that it is difficult for Westbrook to attack the basket as he did when he was young, and his scoring conversion rate has declined very significantly.

Take this season for example. Although Westbrook scored a total of 94 three-pointers, his three-point shooting percentage is still only 32.3%, and this is based on the shooting percentage he made when the counter-attacks are almost not under pressure. The breakthrough he was good at in the past, now due to the slowdown in speed and the reduction in explosive power, it is difficult for him to regenerate his opponent. Moreover, the decrease in bounce power makes Westbrook often blocked by his opponent's inside line when he hits the basket. And what's worse is that Westbrook's touch is very stiff. Even if he has the advantage of one-on-one body, he will fail to make a layup. The most obvious thing is that his regular season finishing rate is still 58.6% this season, but it dropped directly to 45.5% in the playoffs. These problems combined together have caused Westbrook's current offensive dilemma. And although his assist ability is indeed good, Westbrook still prefers to pass some dangerous balls, which also caused his turnovers to remain high. Behind the 6.1 assists last season, there were as many as 3.2 turnovers, so his efficiency is still difficult to satisfy.

2. Although the defensive ability is still there, he often makes mistakes.

Of course, Westbrook is not completely without an advantage, and his defensive ability is still quite good. In fact, when he first debuted, Westbrook's biggest selling point was defense. During the UCLA period, he was the top outside defender in the NCAA. Although his ability has declined significantly now, Westbrook's physical fitness is there, with a height of 1.91 meters, a weight of 90 kilograms, and a 2.03 wingspan, which makes Westbrook rarely suffer when facing each other. Moreover, although his bounce ability is not as exaggerated as before, his amazing bounce speed is still there. Therefore, with the help of Westbrook, the Nuggets often get key frontcourt rebounds this season, and let Westbrook defend his opponents alone in key rounds. Overall, Westbrook is still very online on the defensive end, and as a former MVP, Westbrook is willing to become a blue-collar character who does dirty work and tiring work for the team. In this regard, Westbrook has surpassed many top stars.

However, Westbrook still has a big problem, that is, there are often mistakes in the upper hand. Whether it was the early Thunder, the Rockets, the Wizards, or the Lakers, Clippers and Nuggets in recent years, Westbrook often made irrational choices in the game, which ultimately ruined the victory of the game. Indeed, his enthusiasm and appeal are excellent, and he can always ignite the fans at home and inspire the fighting spirit of the whole team. However, when the team gains an advantage, he will make low-level pass mistakes on the offensive end or free throws on the defensive end, which are unacceptable to fans. This season, he even had an embarrassing performance of not making a empty basket at a critical moment, which directly led to the Nuggets losing the game, so this also made it difficult for some teams to give Westbrook full trust. Some fans and media are even joking that Westbrook is like chocolate now, you will never know how the next piece of chocolate tastes, and Westbrook's next step, you will never know whether he will give a wonderful pass or a low-level mistake, so this also caused his embarrassing situation now.