Is Russell Westbrook's Nuggets 'kryptonite' hurting his free agency?

Is Russell Westbrook's Nuggets 'kryptonite' hurting his free agency? originally appeared on The Sporting News

Former NBA MVP point guard Russell Westbrook remains unsigned late into the offseason. 

Is the 6-foot-4 UCLA product's reported "kryptonite" hurting his free agent chances?

The 36-year-old may no longer be the nine-time All-Star he was during his prime seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets, and may have struggled to fit in as a role player with his hometown Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, but he did enjoy a fairly respectable run in 2024-25 on a semi-contending, 50-32 Denver Nuggets squad.

Will Despart of Nuggets On SI wonders if a postseason piece from Ramona Shelburne of ESPN may have had a chilling effect on Westbrook's free agent offers.

Is Russell Westbrook his own worst enemy?

At the time, Shelburne suggested that some of Westbrook's signature intensity may have been coming back to bite him in this new, diminished on-court form.

"Minutes after the Nuggets lost Game 2 of their first-round series against the Clippers, Adelman had a problem," Shelburne reported. "While he'd been at the postgame lectern, there'd been a heated discussion between Westbrook and Gordon in the locker room. Gordon had challenged Westbrook about his attitude."

Denver would eventually go on to win that series in seven hard-fought games, although if James Harden wasn't doing James Harden playoff stuff in the closeout contest things easily could have gone the other way. The Nuggets would later fall against Westbrook's first NBA team, the Thunder, in a subsequent seven-game second-round series.

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Per Shelburne, an anonymous Denver teammate derided Westbrook as being "so immature" following a heated interaction.

"In many ways, his superpower is his kryptonite -- that he never changes, no matter the pressure or situation," Shelburne observed at the time. "He sneers at the idea of compromise. He nearly played himself out of the league rather than accept a bench role with the Lakers. His former agent even cut ties with him over it."

Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report indicated last week that the Sacramento Kings and Westbrook are both still circling each other, but noted that at least one of two younger guards with more upside — Malik Monk or 2024 lottery selection Devin Carter — would likely need to be offloaded to make space for Westbrook.

In 75 contests for Denver (36 starts), Westbrook averaged 13.3 points while slashing .449/.323/.661, 6.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 0.5 blocks. He finished seventh in Sixth Man of the Year voting for the second straight season.

Unlike his miserable playoff run for the Clippers in 2024, Westbrook enjoyed a fairly productive bench run with Denver this spring, notching averages of 11.7 points (albeit on an inefficient shooting line of .391/.317/.700), 3.7 boards, 2.6 dimes and 0.9 swipes a night.

He could still help a team, especially during the slog of a regular season, but his limitations as a shooter and his tendency to hog the ball in the playoffs may also have inhibited his market.

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