Russell Westbrook picks up lucrative player option to stay with the Lakers / News - Basketnews.com

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Russell Westbrook is exercising his option to stay with the Los Angeles Lakers for $47.1 million next season, ESPN's Andrew Wojnarowski reported.

Points this season

47%112,1Points made:112,1Accuracy:46,9%Place in standings:11Record max:146Record min:83Best scorer:LeBron JamesTeamNBAStatisticsSchedule

Westbrook, a past NBA MVP and one of the league's top 75 all-time players, will turn 34 next season. This will be his 15th season in the NBA.

Westbrook had until Wednesday to make up his mind on the option, which will make this the fifth and final season of a $207 million contract he signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The nine-time All-Star has been well-traveled since. He was traded to Houston in 2019, traded to Washington in 2020 and was moved to the Lakers in 2021.

Last season, the Lakers were dogged by injuries, missed the playoffs, fired coach Frank Vogel and Westbrook has taken much of the blame for what happened.

He averaged 18.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists in 78 games with the Lakers. Only four other players (two-time reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic of Denver, James Harden of Philadelphia, Luka Doncic of Dallas and Dejounte Murray of San Antonio) finished the season with higher averages than Westbrook had in those three stat categories.

However, his scoring average was his lowest since 2009-10, and his 3-point percentage (only 29.8%) ranked 251st out of 278 NBA players who attempted at least 100 shots from beyond the arc this season.

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