Russell Westbrook, the 2017 NBA MVP, is reportedly declining his player option with the Denver Nuggets for the 2025-26 season and testing the free agent market. The veteran guard averaged 13 PPG/5 RPG/6 APG in his one year in the Mile High City. Marc Stein was first on the report.

Russell Westbrook is declining his player option and will enter free agency per @TheSteinLine

Do you want to see Russ back with the Nuggets? pic.twitter.com/s4UO9c9Maj

— Denver Sports 104.3 (@DenSports1043) June 13, 2025

The 36-year-old had the option on the second year of the 2-year, $6.8 million contract he signed with Denver back in the 2024 offseason.

Westbrook was one of the latest free agent signings in the 2024 offseason, as he inked a contract to come to the Denver Nuggets on July 26 of that offseason. After some sketchy performances throughout the twilight years of his career that have not represented who the former NBA MVP used to be on the court back in the 2010s, some Nuggets fans were skeptical on whether or not he would be a positive on the court and help them win another championship.

After a rough start in October that had Lakers fans running victory laps and Nuggets fans worried if their front office had struck out on another piece of the supporting cast alongside Nikola Jokic, Westbrook started to settle into the system and find his groove as he and Jokic became a dynamic duo that no one was expecting to see.

TRIPLE-DOUBLE MACHINES 👊👊

🔋 Jokić: 35p, 15a, 12r
🔋 Russ: 25p, 10a, 11r

They are the first pair of teammates in NBA history to both record a triple-double in the same game MULTIPLE TIMES in a single season 🤯 pic.twitter.com/oAJg8IB8Ul

— NBA (@NBA) January 11, 2025

January was when Westbrook truly unlocked a part of his former self as he averaged 15/6/6 splits while shooting over 50% from the field and 36% from the 3-point line. He looked to be in his best form since his time with the Washington Wizards 2021 alongside Jokic, Jamal Murray and the rest of the Nuggets.

However, the Westbrook that has been featured in so many lowlight reels came out of the shadows in April, highlighted by his missed layup and foul on a 3-point shooter that spoiled Jokic’s historic 60-point triple double against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Russell Westbrook with an all time terrible decision pic.twitter.com/jXsXjDFus8

— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) April 2, 2025

He then followed that up with another missed layup in crunch time against the San Antonio spurs just a few days later, spoiling another potential Nuggets win in a game that was all about redemption for him.

Russell Westbrook just did it AGAIN smh pic.twitter.com/5lpYrzeU9z

— Nick Rothschild (@nick_rothschild) April 3, 2025

Heading into the playoffs, Westbrook was coming off an April in which he shot just 40% from the field and 21% from deep. However, he turned his fortune around in the first round series against the LA Clippers — his former team — as he made 40% of his threes, highlighted by one from the corner in Game 1 that helped send the game to overtime.

As the playoffs wore on, Westbrook was seen with more tape and braces on his fingers as he was fighting with an injury on his shooting hand that required him to undergo surgery once the playoffs were over. He made just 22% of his deep shots against his former team in the Oklahoma City Thunder, including three airballs in Game 5, and was playing to the fullest of his capabilities as the Nuggets bowed out in seven games to the eventual Western Conference Champions.

Despite the ups and downs, Westbrook was one of just six players who could be trusted in Denver’s rotation throughout the season, and the only sense of stability coming off the bench. He said it himself in the postseason that the “Russell Westbrook experience” is filled with various emotions and outcomes, but it’s all a part of who he is and how he plays, and the Nuggets front office knew what they were getting into when they brought him on board last July.

The veteran guard could end up back in Denver, but it would likely be for more than the minimum contract he was on a season ago, as he played himself into a slightly higher pay grade. The Nuggets are very strapped for cash at the moment with all the max contracts on the roster, the new CBA and Christian Braun’s looming extension, so anything above the minimum doesn’t make sense for him in Denver going forward.