Nuggets guard blasted for 'atrocious' series: 'Turned into a pumpkin'

The Denver Nuggets’ season is over, but it isn't Nikola Jokić's fault.

Jokić did all he could to carry Denver past the Oklahoma City Thunder, averaging 28.4 points, 13.9 rebounds, and 5.9 assists in the series on 47.9 shooting.

Denver’s supporting cast didn’t do nearly enough to help Jokić, and the Nuggets will be tasked with retooling their roster this offseason to avoid a similar fate next season.

One player who could have played much better versus OKC was Russell Westbrook, who was blasted by The Ringer’s Bill Simmons on Sunday during a new episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast.

“I think Russ was like minus-86 in the series,” Simmons said.

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“Game 5, Game 6, Game 7, he was like, just universally atrocious.”

“He … turned into a pumpkin.”

As it turns out, Westbrook’s plus-minus was even slightly worse than what Simmons thought. Russ finished at minus-92 for the series. He averaged 9.9 points and 2.6 turnovers per game in the series on 34.8 percent shooting (21.9 percent from three).

It’s safe to say that it wasn’t Westbrook’s shining moment.

Now, Westbrook, 36, faces a $3.5 million player option for next season (per Spotrac). Will the former NBA MVP and nine-time All-Star opt in, or will he test the market?

It’s hard to imagine any team forking over more than a veteran minimum salary for Russ at this point in his career, but you never know.

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