Wei Shao announced that he had undergone surgery on his right hand! Repair of two fractures and possible re-signing of the basic salary out of the contract

On May 28, Beijing time, Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook announced in the latest content of his personal news media that he would undergo surgery on his right hand on Tuesday morning local time. According to Westbrook, the surgery will repair two fractures in his hand during the season. The 36-year-old did not reveal an official timeline for his recovery, but said he is optimistic that he will be back to full action soon.

"This morning (US time), I will have surgery on my right hand to repair two fractures that occurred during the season," he said. Thank you all for your support throughout the season and I can't wait to get back to racing at 100 per cent." ”

In the Nuggets-Thunder series, Westbrook tied his ring finger to his pinky finger for a long time, and four of his five fingers were bandaged.

Hand injuries are no stranger to Westbrook. He underwent surgery for a fracture of his right hand in 2014 and ligament injury and fracture of his left hand in 2019 and 2024, respectively.

Westbrook played a key role after signing a two-year contract with the Nuggets for the 2024-25 season, including a second-year player option. He averaged 13.3 points, 6.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 27.9 minutes per game in 75 games (36 starts) while shooting 44.9%/32.3%/66.1% from three.

Although the Nuggets had a higher net score when Westbrook wasn't on the floor, winning by 8.6 points per 100 possessions compared to 0.6 per 100 possessions when he was on the floor, he still received positive reviews in Denver for bringing energy and leadership from the bench and excelling on multiple occasions during the season in place of injured starters, including Aaron Gordon.

Westbrook needs to make a decision on its $3.47 million player option in the coming weeks. As a free agent, he has a projected base salary of $3.63 million for the 2025-26 season. So, even if he wants to return to Denver and is willing to accept another base-salary contract, it may be more reasonable to opt out of the contract to sign a new one.