Russell Westbrook Says 'Oklahoma City Is a Place That I Want to Be'

Russell Westbrook doesn't sound like he has plans to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder anytime soon.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday at the team's exit interviews following a 105-99 Game 5 loss to the Houston Rockets, Westbrook reiterated Oklahoma City "is a place that I want to be."

"That's something, like I said, I haven't thought about anything, obviously," Westbrook said, according to ESPN.com's Royce Young. "Everybody knows that I like Oklahoma City and I love being here and I love everybody here. But I haven't even thought about that. Obviously, Oklahoma City is a place that I want to be."

As things stand, Westbrook is under contract with the Thunder at least through the end of the 2017-18 season after he inked a new three-year, $85 million extension last August.

However, the final year of that deal (2018-19) is a player option worth $30.5 million—and Westbrook could decline it in order to seek out a more lucrative long-term commitment.

But as Young noted, Westbrook will be eligible for another monster raise this summer thanks to the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement.

By virtue of the ratified terms, Westbrook could sign a whopping five-year max deal—otherwise known as the Designated Player Exception—that would be worth $219 million, according to The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski.

If Westbrook and the Thunder come to terms on a deal of that magnitude, he would instantly become the league's highest-paid player.

Contract information courtesy of Spotrac.com.