NBA Rumors: 3 reasons OKC Thunder won’t miss Kevin Durant

3. Dion Waiters

Dion has had a pretty up-and-down career thus far, but the 2015-2016 season seemed to have matured him a little bit. Following a breakout playoff run by the Thunder, but especially him, there are many that look for Waiters to be one of the key players next year.

He averaged 9.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. During the playoffs, those numbers decreased a bit. Actually, they dropped a little but his defense improved immensely. With an offensively and now defensively stout backcourt of Russell Westbrook and Victor Oladipo, OKC will need that same mindset to carry over through the bench and that starts with Dion Waiters, assuming he’s still a member of the team at that point (there’s been talk of the Thunder possibly losing him to another team with him being the best available free agent on the market right now).

Although Dion is considered a shooting guard, there were times where he looked more like a point guard. When he ran the second team’s offense, things seemed to run smoothly. Turnovers actually went down with Waiters running the point. He can switch running the offense with Cameron Payne when they are both on the court together, presumably on the second team. Cam will more than likely be the point guard on paper, but expect the role to be split between the two.

Next: 2. Cameron Payne