OKC Thunder season review: Analyzing Russell Westbrook’s complicated season

Al-Farouq Aminu, Russell Westbrook, OKC Thunder NBA Free Agency Series (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
Al-Farouq Aminu, Russell Westbrook, OKC Thunder NBA Free Agency Series (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /
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Russell Westbrook
Russell Westbrook /

The Bad

The double-edged sword:

Praising Russ for the way he solved a lot of problems for the OKC Thunder this year is all well and good, but in doing so we need to remember that he caused a lot of those same problems. The cramped and crowded half-court offense that had to work hard to score?

They didn’t have many shooters elsewhere on the roster, but it couldn’t have helped for their lead playmaker to be going through one of the worst shooting seasons we’ve ever seen. A stagnant, grinding offense that struggled to get anything going?

Maybe take a look at the guy with the 30 percent usage who loves to play hero-ball. The Thunder counting on Paul George to be an MVP candidate to stay in games after years of cycling through future stars who didn’t “fit?” We might wanna look at the guy who hoarded the ball at a historic level.

All roads lead back to Westbrook and, since that’s the case, I have a hard time believing they’re going very far.’;