Russell Westbrook amended the pay schedule of his existing player contract to help facilitate his July trade to Houston, according to a new report from Marc Stein of The New York Times.
Though Westbrook will still earn the same annual salaries, including the 2019-20 season at $38.6 million, the revisions will reduce the initial payments from the Rockets and owner Tilman J. Fertitta.
The payout schedule is now “more team-friendly” and “less front-loaded,” Stein reported on Thursday:
Westbrook’s contract reflects the “supermax extension” he signed in September 2017 with the Oklahoma City Thunder, just months after he was named the NBA’s 2017 MVP.
Under that contract, Westbrook is owed more than $171 million over the next four seasons, which is annual average of $42.8 million. Those overall figures are unchanged by the amendments, and thus it should not impact Houston’s potential luxury tax bill in either direction.
The willingness of Westbrook to modify the contract’s payout terms, however, would seem to provide even more evidence the Rockets were his preferred destination all along.
Westbrook averaged 22.9 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 10.7 assists in 36 minutes per game last season as Oklahoma City’s starting point guard. He’s averaged a triple-double in each of the past three seasons, which no NBA player had previously done in even one season since Oscar Robertson in 1961-62.
For the upcoming season, Westbrook will now team up with 2018 MVP James Harden in Houston’s new-look backcourt. The two previously played together with the Thunder from 2009 through 2012 and have remained close friends.
