Russell Westbrook finished his 18th NBA season with the Sacramento Kings by turning a late veteran minimum signing into a starting role, and he said this week he would not mind doing it again. The nine-time All-Star signed late in training camp expecting to come off the bench, but he played his way into the Kings' starting lineup just weeks into the 2025-26 season.
Westbrook averaged 15.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 42 percent from the field and 34 percent from 3-point range. He also posted six triple-doubles and 16 double-doubles, his best season totals in both categories since 2021-22, a stretch that showed Sacramento more than what it thought it was getting in September.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind coming back,” Westbrook said at his end-of-season press conference. He added that he is always willing to go where he is wanted, saying he wants to be helpful and productive while understanding that basketball remains a business. The comments came after a year in which he became a steady presence for a Kings team that kept needing answers as the roster changed around him.
That mattered in Sacramento because injuries kept removing pieces from the lineup. Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, Keegan Murray and De'Andre Hunter all missed time during the season, and the Kings were still searching for a long-term answer at point guard after the Dennis Schroder acquisition did not go as planned. Westbrook, who was 38 this November, became the stabilizer they did not expect to need so soon.
General manager Scott Perry made clear the feeling was mutual. “Russell’s always welcome with me. I loved working with Russell Westbrook this year,” Perry said, adding that he wished he had gotten the chance to work with him earlier in his career. Perry said Westbrook’s influence was especially visible in the growth of younger players, and he pointed to the guard’s two-man game with rookie center Maxime Raynaud.
Raynaud benefited from Westbrook as his primary table-setter on pick-and-roll sets that often ended with baskets at the rim, a small but telling sign that the former MVP still bends an offense even in his 18th season. Perry said the sides will keep the lines of communication open and see what is available this offseason, leaving the Kings to weigh whether Westbrook’s production and fit are worth bringing back on a deal that could approach nearly $15 million per year in 2026-27. For a team still trying to settle its backcourt, the decision may say as much about Sacramento’s future as it does about Westbrook’s past.