Why can t Westbrook, who is about to be 37, find a job?

Less than 20 days before the start of the new season, all teams have gradually started their preseason journey. In a corner where no one pays attention, Westbrook, who is about to be 37, is still sweating heavily in the training camp, as a free agent.

This is the first time Westbrook missed the new season in his career, and it is also the first time he missed training camp. Despite the cruel reality, we may have to accept Westbrook missed the game early next season.

There are indeed still quotas for each team now, but some cannot sign people due to salary cap restrictions, while others hope to maintain the flexibility of the lineup. To be honest, if any team wanted to sign Westbrook, they would have signed it long ago and would not have allowed Westbrook to miss the media day and training camp.

The incident of Westbrook not finding a job was beyond the expectations of many people. When he chose to break out of the Nuggets' contract next season, no one would have thought that Westbrook could not find a basic salary job. At that time, it was generally believed that Westbrook had a better choice.

Now it seems that Westbrook chose to break out of the contract without a next home, which is undoubtedly irrational. But perhaps it was also the Nuggets management who found Westbrook and changed Westbrook's role next season (if Westbrook implements the option). Westbrook could not accept such an arrangement as the Nuggets, so he chose to jump out of the contract.

Westbrook is not short of money, and the only reason he chooses to continue playing in the NBA is that he is still passionate about the game. And if you ask him to give up holding the ball and playing time, Westbrook can't do it when he is a role similar to a team mentor.

This is also one of the reasons why Westbrook has not found a job so far. The strong team in the league will not want Westbrook's unstable factor. Westbrook can play very good data on the bench, but for strong teams, it is hard to say how much the improvement is.

For weak teams, there are not many reasons to want Westbrook. As for the same sentence, giving Westbrook enough ball rights, he can still play a triple-double, but Westbrook can no longer lead the team to win, and his contribution to the team is limited. When Westbrook does not want to be a player mentor, choosing Westbrook with a weak team will only limit the growth of young defenders.

Only a team like the Kings, which is not up or down, has been rumored to Westbrook. But when the king couldn't send Munch away for Kuminga, the rumors with Westbrook were gone. Apart from the Kings, no NBA team has any interest in Westbrook during the offseason.

Westbrook's situation this year is similar to Anthony in 2019. During the offseason in 2019, Anthony was also in a state of no team signing. He waited until the end of November before being signed by the Trail Blazers. As a result, he won the Best Player in the West after a few games.

But Anthony was 35 years old in 2019. What's more important is that Anthony's playing style is plug-and-play, and his first-hand shooting skills have reached the point of perfection. He also figured out that he was willing to play as a substitute and was willing to help young players as a veteran.

Westbrook's biggest problem is not age or a decline in athleticism, but his shooting level is gradually unable to keep up with the times. He averaged 13 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists in the Nuggets last season, shooting 45% from the field and 32.3% from three-point shooting percentage. In the playoffs, his three-point shooting percentage was only over 30%.

Although Westbrook can respond to his opponent's shorting in one or two games, under the large sample, Westbrook's shooting still drags down the team's space. But to be honest, the Nuggets were saddened by the Clippers in the first round of the playoffs last season without Westbrook's output.

Westbrook averaged 25.5 minutes in the first round, scoring 13.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals, shooting percentage of 43.3% and three-point shooting percentage of 41.9%. But in the second round against the Thunder, Westbrook averaged 9.9 points per game and his three-point shooting percentage reached 21.9%.

Lillard was able to sign a pension contract with the Trail Blazers after being cut by the Bucks. But the Thunder is the defending champion at this time, and there is no such position to give Westbrook. If the Thunder were a reconstruction team, I believe Oklahoma would also welcome Westbrook with both hands.

In any case, I hope Westbrook's career will not stop there, I hope Westbrook can have a decent "retired" season, and I hope Westbrook will continue his 18th season.

His fans are still looking forward to his return. This basketball world also needs players like Westbrook to speak out when they are silent and calm when they are noisy.