Russell Westbrook breaking down All-NBA walls

NBAE/Getty

By J.M. Poulard
Special to Daily Thunder

The Thunder’s Russell Westbrook is going to change the way the league votes on awards, and the NBA doesn’t even know it yet.

After his ridiculous Wednesday night stat line (49 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists) against the Philadelphia 76ers, Westbrook not only made it clear he is one of the league’s best guards, he sent a message that he belongs in the same conversation as teammate Kevin Durant.

And yet, OKC’s star guard won’t pat himself on the back for excelling in the face of added responsibilities.

“My mindset has been the same since I got in the league,” Westbrook said, per ESPN.com’s Royce Young. “It’s to come out, play hard every night and give it everything I have, regardless of what’s going on.”

Westbrook is a franchise cornerstone and someone who should be threatening LeBron James’ throne coupled with Anthony Davis’ ascension. Indeed, his performance against Philly lifted his averages in points, rebounds and assists past the likes of Stephen Curry, James Harden, LeBron and Durant.

Curry and Harden are the unofficial MVP leaders while LeBron and Durant have collected the last two Maurice Podoloff trophies. Thus, I think it’s fair to say that Westbrook’s production is immensely impressive, especially when one accounts for the fact he’s playing less minutes on average than all his counterparts save for Curry.

Forget about reading between the lines, I’ll just come right out and say it: Russ might be the best player in basketball right now.

James started the season with the title and allowed Davis to hold it for a brief period, while LeBron got accustomed to his new old surroundings with the Cleveland Cavaliers and took a two-week break from the season to get his body right.

It’s worth noting, Davis went down for a bit and opened up the door for Curry and Harden to hold the belt for minor stretches of the campaign, only for James to return and claim what was rightfully his. Through it all, Westbrook was lurking in the shadows with Durant coming in and out of the lineup.

Russell has since become a raging inferno thrust into the spotlight. Sure, the Thunder are battling for a playoff spot because of a less than stellar record, but as CBS Sports’ Ken Berger argued, that should be viewed as a minor detail:

“And can you truly rely on the standings alone to determine who’s the “best” or “most dangerous” team in the West the way this season has played out? Would anyone in their right mind want to mess with Westbrook right now — with or without Durant — in a first-round playoff series?”

Believe it or not, his out-of-this-world play is going to become a problem for the league when the time comes to vote for awards.

The All-NBA first team requires two guards, two forwards and a center.

Chances are the Memphis Grizzlies’ Marc Gasol will get the nod at center and LeBron will get one of the forward spots.

Things get trickier from here.

One would assume that Curry and Harden will make the squad as well given their near-transcendent play during the 2014-15 season. Curry is the leading scorer and assist man on the best team in basketball, and Harden has carried the Houston Rockets so far to the third-best record in the Western Conference despite Dwight Howard’s prolonged absence (knee).

Keep in mind, Harden’s averages are quite ­LeBronesque, a fact that reinforces how great the bearded one is this year.

That leaves us with a forward slot, and it will probably go to New Orleans Pelicans star Davis. The Brow’s easily been the best power forward in the sport, which certainly warrants a spot on the All-NBA first team.

However, this leaves Westbrook out.

Should a legitimate MVP candidate wind up on the second team? In this particular instance, I say no.

Westbrook is in a tricky position because he’s missed 15 games, and I guess that would be reason enough to downgrade him to the second team. But given the season he’s having, the absences should count as a blemish on his resume, but it shouldn’t sabotage it altogether, though.

Make no mistake, Westbrook will end up among the top-four – maybe top two even – players in MVP voting, a clear sign that he’s enjoying a season that should have him included into the NBA’s best quintet.

So what to do?

The league should abandon the typical requirements and instead ask voters to select a point guard, two or three wing players and a center. Grantland’s Zach Lowe proposed something of the sort last year around awards time:

“Regardless: The league should consider moving to a point guard/wing/big man set of positional designations. Point guard play on both ends is its own unique thing, while shooting guards and small forwards are interchangeable on most teams. The gap between power forward and center can be larger, but most teams still play two at least semitraditional big men, and there is much cross-matching between the two positions.”

Tweaking the voting process in this fashion would at least give a perimeter player enjoying a transcendent year much like Westbrook an opportunity to make the All-NBA first team.

I say an opportunity because there still isn’t any guarantee that Russ would actually make the top five in a season like this one even if the rules were adjusted. James and Davis are probably the players with the weakest resumes, and that’s mostly due to missed games similarly to Westbrook. Thus, voters could still reward league’s marquee player with a selection and favor the best big man in the sport.

With that said, Russell will challenge the NBA’s conventional wisdom and force the association to rethink its ways.

He’s that kind of force.

J.M. Poulard writes for Warriors World, Forum Blue and Gold an other various internet locations. You can follow him on Twitter here.