Oklahoma City Thunder setting example for how to utilize D-League affiliate

The annual draft for the NBA is a joyous, monumental occasion for players lucky enough to hear their name called. However, the fates of said players covers a vast spectrum, and while many are a beacon of hope for their new franchise, others will remain in obscurity until the opportune time.

Since the 2014 NBA draft, 24 of the 180 players selected have been stashed in leagues throughout the world, until the NBA deems them ready; and to be frank, for some that time will never arise. In recent years, the growth and improvements made in the D-League have allowed NBA teams to utilize a home-grown stash option known as the domestic draft-and-stash.

While a few teams each season engage in this practice, the Oklahoma City Thunder brass are clearly all-in on the benefits of keeping their assets close and of course helping the bottom line. The Thunder are the only team to utilize this option at least once in each of the past three seasons. It started in 2014 with Josh Huestis (which was a weird first round stash) and Semaj Christon, then again in 2015 with Dakari Johnson. This season Daniel Hamilton was their target.

It’s becoming common practice for Oklahoma City to select players in the second round who will agree to this situation. The immediate benefit for the Thunder is they don’t have to pay these players while retaining their draft rights. Instead of them heading overseas to play, they stay close to home (the Oklahoma City Blue literally play across the street from the Thunder’s arena) getting comfortable with the Thunder’s culture, schemes, offensive and defensive sets and with the coaching staff at large.

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What about the players you ask? Well, quite simply they are taking huge pay cuts to agree to a deal like this. Not only are the D-League salaries very low ($19,500 – $26,000), but they are missing out on an opportunity to make big money overseas, and while in the D-League they cannot be called up by any other NBA clubs since their rights are protected by the Thunder. One might see this as a lose-lose scenario for the players, however the cliche of good things coming to those who wait is appropriate here.

Both Josh Huestis and Semaj Christon now hold spots on the Thunder’s 15-man roster. Huestis earned his roster spot last season, while Christon did eventually spend a year overseas after his rookie year with the Blue. So, the promise of “hey, work with us for now and this will eventually work out for you” has come to fruition for these players.

Dakari Johnson is playing his second season with the OKC Blue and his improvements have been exponential under their regime. The 7-foot Johnson turned 22-years-old before the start of his sophomore campaign and ultimately he hopes to make the Thunder roster for 2017-18. Again, his development has been night-and-day in terms of his footwork, awareness on both ends of the court and overall confidence in himself. He’s still working on increasing his stamina and adding legitimate post moves to his arsenal, but Thunder brass have to be pleased with him to this point.

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It’s easy to say his numbers have risen due to increased minutes, however watching him, he now looks like he belongs. He asserts himself each and every night and he’s the Blue’s go-to player. The Blue are 7-4 through 11 games this year and the offense runs through Johnson. That was not the case last season as he took a back seat to less talented players because of his passive behavior.

Watch him receive the ball in the midpost and work his way for a lefty hook against Kings’ rookie Skal Labissiere. Then as he moves to the paint he kicks it out to Daniel Hamilton instead of forcing up a bad right-handed runner:

Next season will be telling for Johnson as he will be 22-years-old and should push for the opportunity to attend camp with the Thunder and make the team. The downside for the Thunder is if he doesn’t make it, they waive him and lose his draft rights thus opening the door for another team to snag him. Their recent history shows, they will likely try to find a place for him. Maybe he takes Nick Collison’s spot next season, who knows?

This year’s iteration of the domestic draft-and-stash is Daniel Hamilton. He’s a 6-foot-7 forward who spent two years at UConn before making the jump to the pros. At 21-years-old, Hamilton has already shown an innate ability to rebound the basketball at his position as he currently leads the team at 8.8 per night with a rebound rate of 27.1 percent. He’s a tough-nosed forward who likes to mix it up on the defensive end, but is surprisingly reluctant on the offensive end.

All aspects of the game can be taught and developed over time, but the willingness to compete on the less luxurious end of the floor can be difficult to instill in young players. Hamilton possesses that fight already, so the focus should be on him attacking the rim with the same ferocity (only 2.0 FTAs/gm right now), fine-tuning his shooting mechanics (33.3 percent on 4.8 3PAs/gm right now) and reigning in his ball-handling and creation skills (14.54 assist percentage and 18.45 turnover percentage).

The NBA D-League is inching closer and closer to having 30 teams with an affiliate for each NBA club. Once we reach that point, many have asserted they would like to see the D-League follow the Major League Baseball model in which NBA teams own all the rights to players in their minor league affiliate as well. Right now, that’s not the case. Players like the ones mentioned above are protected, however everyone else is fair game (Reggie Williams is reportedly being signed by the New Orleans Pelicans from the Blue’s roster).

The Oklahoma City Thunder and general manger Sam Presti are setting a precedent for future second round draft picks, and building their minor league culture of development and promotion from within all the while. Agents and players alike hate to lose a year (or two) of their earning potential with time in the D-League, however the odds of making a roster as a second rounder can be slim. The offer to learn in a system ultimately increases a player’s odds of sticking around..

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Since 2014, the Thunder have utilized this domestic draft-and-stash option with four separate players while the other 29 NBA teams combined have only done it nine times. This is clearly an area of focus in their player development strategy and so far it would be hard to argue that is hasn’t worked for them; and the players.

Very few second round draft picks turn into Paul Millsap or Isaiah Thomas, but the Thunder are attempting to ensure they can craft and mold them into contributing rotational players a la Shelvin Mack or Jon Leuer. Teams are constantly searching for any strategic advantage available and right now Sam Presti has his finger on using their D-League affiliate to churn out inexpensive contributors for their club.