After a brief dust-up on the bench at the end of a game earlier in the season, some observers thought that Oklahoma City's duo of All-NBA players, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, would end up breaking apart like so many young NBA cores have in the past.
However, the Thunder clearly had no intention of letting that happen, as they have reportedly agreed Thursday to a five-year $80 million max extension with Westbrook that will keep the 6'3 190 PG in Oklahoma City for most of the next decade:
WojYahooNBA Adrian WojnarowskiRussell Westbrook has signed a five-year, $78 million-plus max extension with Oklahoma City, league sources tell Y! Sports.
Westbrook's numbers are slightly off from last year, as the UCLA product is averaging one fewer point and three fewer assists coming off a second-team All-NBA campaign.
However, the Thunder are off to one of the fastest starts in the NBA, going 12-3 with a +4.5 point differential, and they're already two games up on their nearest competitor in the West.
Now, the question becomes whether the small-market team will be able to afford signing James Harden and Serge Ibaka, two other important parts of their core, to long-term extensions in the coming years as well.