Ben Simmons and Russell Westbrook are threatening to sit out next season unless they get paid above the league minimum. I really don’t think Ben Simmons has room to negotiate salary. He’s honestly lucky to still be in the league. As far as Westbrook is concerned, this move will only hurt his legacy and he’s so rich already it really shouldn’t matter.
Westbrook deserves a little raise after how he played last season. There were games where his energy basically carried the team to a win, so at least give him that respect. He can still be very valuable to the team.
The only issue is that the team lost their coach (fired), so the system probably changed a bit or some players got disappointed. But that can be fixed eventually. What matters is the core is still intact, except for Porter of course, who got traded for Cam Thomas. That was understandable since Porter was underperforming despite his huge salary.
So yeah, let’s just hope for the best for Westbrook as He’s a future Hall of Famer and deserves to be treated right.
I know the Kings want to sign him and give him a decent paycheck, but they can't unless they can find a trading partner to get rid of Monk (which I think would be a mistake). I do hope that Westbrook doesn't sit out. He's had a great career and deserves to pad those career numbers a bit to make sure he's a first ballot hall of famer. I certainly believe he will be, even if he hasn't gotten himself a ring.