NBA Rumors: Russell Westbrook Plays Team Ball, Agrees To Amended Pay Scheme

Seeing how Russell Westbrook owns an enormous deal, the Houston Rockets found themselves in a bind finding a way to settle his salary. Westbrook owns a massive $207 million deal spread over five years and is due $38 million this coming NBA season.

But it appears Westbrook has agreed to a compromise with reports that he has agreed to amend the payment schedule. Citing league sources, Marc Stein of The New York Times revealed that the 2017 NBA Most Valuable Player as agreed to amend the payouts to become more team-friendly and less front-loaded. However, it should be made clear that the amounts were not altered but more on to sparing the Rockets from making massive payouts.

Westbrook's unselfish deed also allows team owner Tilman Fertita added flexibility when it comes to finances. However, it needs to be pointed out that this in no way allow the Rockets to put up a better team on the court. This is because of the Collective Bargaining Agreement at different payroll levels.

Restructuring Westbrook’s deal does not give the Rockets new roster-building tools. That is unless it moves $25 million off of the next year of Westbrook’s deal where the money that the NBA star guard shifts away from those “massive up-front payments” will not be used by Daryl Morey to bolster Houston’s depth.

There were no details given on how much money would be moved around but it is clear that he is not sacrificing anything as far as his contract is concerned. The 30-year-old All-Star Guard will be entering the second year of his five year deal signed back during the 2018-19 NBA season where he is due to make roughly $38.5 million. The numbers will go up in the 2021-22 season. The 4th overall pick can make $44.2 million by the 2022-23 although he has a player option according to Spotrac.

Either way, the fact that Westbrook is willing to stretch out payments to be made to him is good news for Houston. It indicates that he has no qualms playing alongside James Harden, someone he played with before with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Most are eager to see how the two can co-exist, aware that both want the ball most of the time in their hands. The inevitable task of resolving ball-sharing falls on the shoulders of head coach Mike D'Antoni.