{"id":162867,"date":"2025-10-15T14:03:40","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T18:03:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=162867"},"modified":"2025-10-15T14:03:40","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T18:03:40","slug":"kings-sign-russell-westbrook-and-who-gets-cut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/10\/15\/kings-sign-russell-westbrook-and-who-gets-cut\/","title":{"rendered":"Kings Sign Russell Westbrook And Who Gets Cut"},"content":{"rendered":"

SACRAMENTO \u2014 The Kings<\/a> are making a bold move as they look to bolster their backcourt depth ahead of the new season. Nine-time All-Star Russell Westbrook<\/a> has agreed to a deal with the franchise, according to Shams Charania of ESPN. The decision comes after weeks of quiet talks between the two sides. As the news of the Kings signing Russell Westbrook\u00a0spreads, so do the questions about how this reshapes the roster.<\/p>\n

Kings Sign Russell Westbrook And Who Gets Cut<\/h2>\n

A Veteran Presence Joins the Kings<\/h3>\n
\"The
May 11, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) controls the ball as Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook (4) guards in the third quarter during game four of the second round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Westbrook, the 2017 MVP, enters his 18th NBA season with a wealth of experience. The 35-year-old guard declined his player option with Denver this summer, making him an unrestricted free agent. He appeared in 75 games last season for the Nuggets<\/a>, averaging 13.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 6.1 assists. He also shot 44.9% from the field and 32.3% from three.<\/p>\n

The Kings signing Westbrook\u00a0didn\u2019t come out of nowhere. Sacramento had maintained contact with Westbrook all offseason. He already shares connections across the organization \u2014 from his bond with Domantas Sabonis<\/a> to his history with BJ Armstrong on the agency side. There\u2019s also mutual respect between Westbrook and both Scott Perry and Doug Christie.<\/p>\n

Westbrook\u2019s Career Milestones<\/h3>\n

Westbrook\u2019s r\u00e9sum\u00e9 speaks for itself. He owns the NBA record for triple-doubles with 203. He\u2019s also one of only two players ever \u2014 alongside LeBron James \u2014 to surpass 25,000 points, 8,000 rebounds, and 8,000 assists. With 26,205 career points, he sits just 506 away from passing Oscar Robertson as the highest-scoring point guard in league history.<\/p>\n

He also ranks eighth in career assists. Another 75 assists would make him only the eighth player in NBA history to reach 10,000. Few active players can match the weight of his numbers.<\/p>\n

How He Fits in Sacramento<\/h3>\n

The Kings have struggled with bench production. Last season, they ranked 28th in bench points and 29th in bench assists. Westbrook may not be the athletic dynamo he once was, but he remains one of the best second-unit playmakers in the league.<\/p>\n

Sacramento already added Dennis Schr\u00f6der<\/a> in a sign-and-trade, Dario \u0160ari\u0107<\/a> in a swap involving Jonas Valan\u010di\u016bnas<\/a>, and signed Drew Eubanks. Now, with the Kings signing Russell Westbrook , they strengthen one of their weakest areas without sacrificing any players.<\/p>\n

Who Could Be the Odd Man Out<\/h3>\n

The Kings now have 15 players under standard contracts. That gives them little flexibility, and not much room to maneuver beyond Westbrook\u2019s signing. While they don\u2019t need to trade anyone to finalize the deal, someone may eventually lose minutes in the rotation.<\/p>\n

Sacramento is betting on experience, leadership, and production from a player who has seen every corner of the league. Westbrook\u2019s energy and pace could reshape their second unit and give the Kings more lineup options in crunch time despite his obvious flaws.<\/p>\n

A Calculated Gamble<\/h3>\n

Westbrook turns 37 in November, but Sacramento sees value in his voice, tempo, and r\u00e9sum\u00e9. This signing is about adding the right kind of veteran to push a team in flux forward.<\/p>\n

Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SACRAMENTO \u2014 The Kings are making a bold move as they look to bolster their backcourt depth ahead of the new season. Nine-time All-Star Russell Westbrook has agreed to a deal with the franchise, according to Shams Charania of ESPN. The decision comes after weeks of quiet talks between the two sides. As the news […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":155729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,3,29],"tags":[50219,53],"class_list":["post-162867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-news","category-kings","tag-2025-nba-free-agents","tag-russell-westbrook"],"modified_by":"Frederick Okocha","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162867"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":162873,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162867\/revisions\/162873"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}