Let's be honest with ourselves for a second. Damian Lillard and Chris Paul returning to the teams they became legends with is not going to end in rings. The Clippers at their best will still have the wheels fall off come late spring of next year, and the Portland Trail Blazers are still years away from even contending for the play-in with this version of Dame. And they're not even going to have him for the 2026 season!
The real reasoning behind these homecomings is the story. The age of the artificial, lab-grown super team is dead. The stars of the 2010s are old, LeBron is fully going salt and pepper, fans and GMs are suddenly realizing that they're probably going to die one day. And so return the prodigal sons. And who knows who's going to follow the Point God and Dame Time's paths to the sunset? Don't tell me that DeMar DeRozan wouldn't be sobbing his eyes out if Toronto put him on a one-year after his contract with the Kings is up.
Which is why, while they are playing with house money, the Oklahoma City Thunder should be next in line for the nostalgia trip. NBA Central made a good point in tweeting out this image of Russell Westbrook, who recently declined his player option to come back to the Denver Nuggets.
Russell Westbrook is the greatest player in Thunder history
Chris Paul and Dame were eras on their own: Lob City and the Dame Time Blazers will live in NBA history forever. But neither truly meant as much to those two teams as Russell Westbrook did to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
He was the second-best player on OKC's run to the 2012 Finals, their first since moving from Seattle. For better or for worse, his MVP season dragging the Thunder kicking and screaming into the playoffs made NBA history -- Westbrook singlehandedly tainted the legacy of Oscar Robertson by normalizing The Big O's greatest claim to fame. And then did it twice more. We yawn at the triple double today because of Russ.
And when James Harden got dealt, KD betrayed the team, Russ stayed. That's largely why he's commonly regarded as the greatest player in Thunder history, at least until SGA came and won the Triple Crown.
And no, OKC doesn't need any more guards. Real GM projects their depth chart to have five players in the rotation at the one. But this version of Russ is also cheap -- he only made $3.4 million in 2024-25 (by the way, this version of Brodie was still capable of making triple double history multiple times).
Russ can still contribute for a playoff team that knows how to use him. And if anyone knows how to use unique personnel, it's OKC's coaching staff. Combine that with the story, the legend, of Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma's favorite son, coming home? The 2026 Thunder would be an absolute movie.
If nothing else, at least think of the jersey sales.