Oklahoma City Thunder: We don’t need no water
The Step Back has been born from the aesthetics and traditions of the Hardwood Paroxysm Basketball Network. In the past, Hardwood Paroxysm has produced a massive stand-alone season preview. This year, that preview effort has been rolled up into the launch of The Step Back.
The Step Back’s writers and illustrators have prepared a hefty deep-dive into each team, built from multiple smaller sections. This year’s theme is television comedies and each section is named after some of our favorite sitcoms. For links to all 30 teams, as well as details about the focus of each section, check out our guide on how to read this preview.
Community
By David Ramil (@dramil13)
How do you move on?
For as long as the franchise has been in Oklahoma City, it was led by one of the best players in NBA history. But he was more than that, a curious mix of (perhaps false) humility and talent that had been adopted as the city’s favorite son. Now he’s left and the thought of basketball being played at the ‘Peake without him is impossible to imagine. No more talk of servitude and dedication. No more displays of long-range accuracy and long-limbed athleticism.
Can you move on? Do you even want to?
These are questions that only fans can choose to make while for the players left on the Thunder roster — particularly Russell Westbrook — there is no other alternative.
Westbrook’s career has always been under a microscope. Early analysis focused on what position he was best suited for, using archaic standards to label his explosive impact. When it was clear that he was going to change the game regardless of where he was on the floor, a deeper look at his efficiency took place. But in choosing to remain with the Thunder, signing a contract extension that will keep him in Oklahoma City for at least three more seasons, he increased the resolution of the lens through which he’s viewed.
So much of his career has been held in context, whether positional or his ability to co-exist with a former teammate. Now that these issues have been resolved, we get a chance to see Westbrook at his purest and in control of a team with expectations lower than they have been in years.
And the inability to predict what happens next is exactly why this team is well worth following.
Many see Westbrook’s 2014-15 season as a template for what happens next, when injuries left the Thunder weakened in a brutal Western Conference. Westbrook was a man possessed, carrying the team to one hard-fought victory after another, putting up gaudy, historical numbers and propelling himself into the race for the league’s Most Valuable Player award. It was a glimpse of what Westbrook could become when left as the team’s most reliable and potent offensive option.
But the context of having to deal with a former MVP on the roster still existed, as did the annual pursuit of a title that is the byproduct of having two supremely talented teammates. So much of these two factors defined what this team was in recent years that it’s difficult to see what version of Westbrook will lead Oklahoma City this season.
The Thunder offense was rightfully criticized during this span for being one-dimensional, even if that dimension was controlled by either of the team’s superstars. With only Westbrook left in control, the obvious tendency is to assume the team will revert into a display of single-handed dominance, with supporting players like Steven Adams, Enes Kanter and the newly-acquired Victor Oladipo left to bear witness as so many Oklahoma City players have before. This would be Westbrook at his most volcanic, erupting for numbers that might eclipse even his late-season production in 2015. Some would insist this is also Westbrook at his most watchable, a danger to himself and others around him, merciless in his pursuit of every attainable win through sheer force of will.
But there’s another option, one where Westbrook is finally freed of Oklahoma City’s stale, two-pronged approach and the yoke of title contention. The reality is that there aren’t many other teams outside of the Bay Area capable of winning this season’s championship; Westbrook and the Thunder might both be better served by pursuing long-term, sustainable growth. This could be Russell at his best, choosing meticulous over meteoric, purposeful over powerful. After years of fighting abstract concepts of right and wrong, he might become a better version of himself.
Should this be the Westbrook that leads the Thunder this season, there’ll surely be critics, anyway, clamoring for the unique brand of chaos that he’s embodied throughout his career. If he’s less productive and more efficient, many will wonder why he wasn’t like this when Oklahoma City’s title window was still wide open. There’s no winning here, at least not for Westbrook.
For the rest of us, moving on is made easier by appreciating whichever version of Westbrook we’ll see.
Art by Nathan Lee
Third Rock From The Sun
By Bryan Toporek (@btoporek)
After an offseason in which mainstays Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka both departed the Oklahoma City Thunder, the franchise’s hierarchy is suddenly in flux behind Russell Westbrook. New arrival Victor Oladipo and incumbent centers Steven Adams and Enes Kanter will jostle for the right to become the Robin to Westbrook’s Batman, although given Kanter’s defensive limitations, he figures to fall behind both of his main competitors on that front.
Though Adams isn’t yet a prolific scorer, his two-way impact gives him the edge over Oladipo as Oklahoma City’s second-best player at the moment. That means Oladipo, the former No. 2 overall pick in 2013, will slide in as the Thunder’s third banana, helping round out one of the league’s most freakishly athletic backcourts.
Inconsistency plagued Oladipo throughout his three years with the Orlando Magic, particularly under the Scott Skiles regime in 2015-16. Skiles, convinced the Oladipo-Elfrid Payton pairing was nonfunctional, moved the former to the bench for more than a month despite mixed results. Over Oladipo’s first six games as a reserve, he averaged 18.5 points on 44.6 percent shooting, 6.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.2 blocks, 1.0 steals and 1.0 triples in 27.8 minutes per night; in the following 14 games, those averages plunged to 9.4 points on 36.1 percent shooting, 3.9 assists, 2.9 rebounds, 1.2 steals, 0.7 treys and 0.4 blocks in 25.9 minutes.
In Oklahoma City, he won’t have to worry about head coach Billy Donovan jerking around his minutes like Skiles did this past season. The Thunder wouldn’t have traded Serge Ibaka to Orlando for a package whose centerpiece was Oladipo if they didn’t view him as their shooting guard of the future. Seeing as the Indiana product averaged 17.5 points on 45.2 percent shooting, 5.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.6 treys while shooting 36.8 percent from deep during 52 games as a starter last year, one can only imagine how he’ll fare alongside the ferocious Westbrook.
“I feel like you’re going to see a lot more from me; I don’t think I’ve even scratched the surface of how good I really can be,” Oladipo told Basketball Insiders’ Alex Kennedy in July following the trade. “I’m getting better every day and I’m looking forward to [showing] it.
“I can still grow way, way more,” he added. “I’ve only been in the NBA for three years and I’m just getting more and more comfortable every year. The game has been slowing down for me every year and I’m just so much more comfortable out there. It’s going to be really fun to see how good I can be [with more experience and a change of scenery]. Sometimes, you end up surprising yourself.”
The transition won’t necessarily be seamless, which Oladipo readily admits. Neither he nor Westbrook are consistent threats behind the three-point line, so opposing backcourts may sag off both players and allow them to fire away from deep, as each player is far more dangerous running with a full head of steam toward the basket. However, Oladipo’s ability to create off the dribble — he played point guard full-time during his first season with Orlando — could help alleviate some ball-handling duties from Westbrook, freeing him up to be an off-ball cutter at times. If Oklahoma City can overcome the lack of long-range shooting from its backcourt by surrounding them with three-point shooters — the newly acquired Ersan Ilyasova should help on that front — its offense may not drop off as severely as expected despite the loss of Durant.
Defensively, meanwhile, Westbrook and Oladipo should have opposing guards tossing and turning at night. In speaking with Erik Horne of the Oklahoman, former Magic assistant coach Laron Profit compared the duo to “like having two shutdown corners in the game, what they’re able to do athletically, switching.”
“Athletically, I don’t think there’s any backcourt I’ve seen in this league (like them),” Profit added. “It’s almost as rare as seeing two shooters the caliber of Steph (Curry) and Klay (Thompson) in the same backcourt.”
Oklahoma City won’t be fully able to replace what Durant and Ibaka brought to their rotation, but Oladipo should help blunt the pain of their departures. If he further taps into his immense upside, he and Westbrook may soon challenge Curry and Thompson for the title of the league’s best backcourt.
Gilligan’s Island
By Daniel Rowell (@danieljrowell)
All Summer Sixteen, Dion Waiter’s Island:
A pair of Oklahoma City Thunder players, left stranded are exploring an abandoned underwater station once used by the Starbucks Organization to plot the team’s move to OKC. In wake of consecutive Western Conference 3-1 playoff collapses, Kevin Durant is now a Warrior and the remains of the Thunder Organization are blown up and stranded on Dion Waiters Island, where the players have been left behind all offseason. Russell Westbrook and Steven Adams, break off from the group during lunch to chill in this weird underwater station thing call, “Looking Glass”.
Steven: Russ? There’s diving gear over there on in those lockers, right? Do they have any seven foot suits? We could go snorkelin’ !!
Russ: AYE! BRO-DEE. There’s a six and a three quarter but I think I can stretch it out for ya. Let’s go.
Steven: All right, well why don’t you go grab those and I’ll try and pick us out a Snorkeling playlist on this computer over here.
Russ: YEAH BRODY.
Steven Adams walks into smaller control room and approaches a dated iMac screen that appears to be loaded with old Starbucks playlists from the early aughts. He spots a Jack Johnson playlist and immediately queues it up.
Russ: Aye? What the hell is this? John Mayer
Steven: Aye what? Brings you back? And no it is not John MAY-ER… it’s Jack Johnson. BIG DIFFERENCE.
Russ: Nah, I’m not about no banana pancakes.
Steven: Relax, man. Pretend like it’s the weekend.
Steven returns to the computer where a strange facetime window popped up. It appears to be calling in from the Orlando Magic.
Steven: Incoming call. It looks like it’s from Orlando?
Russ: Ibaka?
Steven accepts and Serge Ibaka appears on the screen.
Ibaka: Hello? Hello! Can you hear me?
Steven: Aye! Ibaka, my man. What’s up, fam?
The screen is static and the feed keeps cutting out
Ibaka: W-who is this? Who am I speaking to?
Steven: Ibaka. C’mon man. It’s your favorite seven foot kiwi. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten me. It’s been like three weeks.
Ibaka: Er…okay. “Fam”… where are you exactly? Is that… John Mayer?
Steven: NO IT’S JACK JOHNSON. We’re on Dion Waiters Island. We’re doing all right. Team is not quite what it used to be, but Russ and I are about to go snorkeling.
Ibaka: Waiters Island!! Oh no, you guys got to get off. You can’t spend the whole offseason there. You have to get … off!!
The audio feed cuts in and out on a static screen
Steven: Mate? Ibaka? What did you say?
Ibaka: You… have to … get off… the island…
Steven Adams smacks the side of the computer and it appears to do the trick
Ibaka: That place will ruin your shot selection. You can’t train there. Did you not see how awful my shot was last season?
Steven: Russ! Come here. You got to hear what Ibaka is saying.
Ibaka: Yeah, man. If your whole team stays on that island. You’ll wreck the whole season.
Steven turns again to call back to Russ but spots a figure tapping the window to his right. Covered in a snorkeling mask, it appears to be Draymond Green’s smiling face, swimming on the outside of the station. Green pulls a grenade out from his belt and taps the window again to display the explosive device
Steven: OH YOU LITTLE SH**. RUSS RUNNNNN!
Draymond waves bye as he pulls the pin and swims away, leaving the grenade to blow up the window. As the blast clears, water starts rushing in. Steven acts quickly and runs to the door of the office to seal himself in. He locks it so as to save Russ. Ibaka’s feed cuts off on the iMac as the entire room begins to flood. Russ runs to the door to look in and sees Adams now up to his knees in water.
Russ: BRODY!!!!
Russ grabs a oxygen tank and trying to hammer at the glass of the door to break Steven free. He looks at his friend, the last remaining piece from a team that was one win away from the NBA Finals. Sad.
Russ: What the hell is going on.
Steven looks around the office and pulls a sharpie from the desk and begins to write something on his hand. He holds his hand up to the glass with the words:
“NOT A PLAYOFF TEAM.”
Russ doesn’t understand.
Russ: What do you mean? We can be great again. Open the damn door Steven. We can get out of here. The wet suits are right there. What are you doing?
Steven shakes his head and then begins to write again on his other hand. He holds it up to the glass but it’s hard to read, his left is not his strong suit.
Russ guesses at the words
Russ: Gel.. off… the… is… land? What does that even mean?
Water rushes in. Adams is now completely under water. He gives one last nod to his teammate and friend, before giving up. Let Russ be Russ. Draymond got him good. He floats back and breathes in, trying to enjoy his last minutes snorkeling to Jack Johnson. Westbrook just stares in disbelief as to what the hell had just happened. A fire lights behind his eyes.
Months later, outside Oakland International Airport:
A bright red camaro pulls into a vacant lot outside the airport’s fenced border. It’s dusk. A shadowy figure sits in his car and tries to take a photo of the sunset as a plane takes off down the tarmac, but he keeps getting his thumb on the lens. He shakes his head in frustration.
A second car approaches, a Jeep Grand Cherokee with a Uber Airport Sticker taped to the dashboard. From the back passenger side, a player emerges from the darkness – Dion Waiter.
The figure steps out of the camaro, a lengthy and lean man in some kind of Bonobos outfit with a fedora. He steps into the light under a lamppost overhead, it is Kevin Durant.
Dion speaks into the car to his driver. Hey man, hold up. Should be only a few minutes.
Dion: Hey.
Kevin: Hey… eff you, man.
Kevin goes to push Dion playfully, like old times. But Dion steps back to avoid Kevin and shakes his head in disapproval.
Dion: Look man. I saw the game highlights last night on Sportscenter. Still ball hogging and carrying your teams, huh? Can’t pass to Steph Curry or Klay Thompson WIDE OPEN in the corner for a game winner? Gotta miss it yourself, huh?
Kevin: Old habits, habits I guess
Dion: You look terrible man. Geez, what happened?
Kevin forces a laugh and looks to the ground. He frowns.
Kevin: Thanks, I guess.
Dion: Why’d you call me, bro? We don’t talk for a year after you take your easy money snipers to light speed and now you at-ing me?!
Kevin hands Dion a newspaper clipping. A boxscore from Oklahoma City’s game with Golden State
Kevin: I was hoping that you’d heard?
Dion: What that Russ son’d you like a fool, dropped a triple double on 83 points? Chyea, I heard.
Kevin pulls two tickets out of his pocket.
Kevin: He’s playing the Clippers tomorrow night, I thought you might go with me?
Dion: Why would I go to Doc’s funeral? I’ve seen enough of Russ when he rolled through Miami last month. C’mon man. Is that why you called me out here?
Dion turns to get back in his car, as he grips the door to step in, he looks back at Kevin in disappointment. Kevin tries to keep his attention and reaches out toward him…
Kevin: I…I’ve been been traveling a lot.
Dion: What?
Kevin: Yeah, that free pass the referees give us, I use it all the time. I’ve been trying to learn to from Kerr. Every night… I travel in LA, in Portland, in Cleveland, in the Garden, in Memphis. They pass me the ball and I pick up my dribble and run at the hoop and I fly man, right down the lane, and slam it home. And they don’t call it or anything.
Dion: Why?
Kevin: Becuase… cause I want them to call it, D. I need them to call it. I don’t care about anybody else on this team. Every foot I drag to the hoop, every shot I take when I pass up a assist to the open man on the outside, I mean… I… I actually close my eyes and I pray that they might trade me back to Oklahoma City.
Dion stares off at the sunset, a tear starts to well in his eyes.
Dion: Eff you, man. The eff does any of that mean? What good does that do you? Just out here trying to ruin team you on.
Kevin: No, D. I’m sick of lying to myself! We made a mistake. My “decision” was a mistake.
Dion stares into Kevin and narrows his eyes
Dion: WE? We made a mistake? I have to g, man. Riley’s going to be wondering where I am. Man, f*** you. You did this. Not “we”
Kevin grabs Dion’s arm
Kevin: We were not supposed to leave, D.
Dion: Well, you did. You lied, man.
Dion shakes Kevin’s grip and sits in the car.
Dion: Men Lie, Women Lie. Buckets? DNT.
Dion closes the car door.
Kevin: We have to go back, D.
The Jeep pulls around and drives away.
Kevin: DION! WE HAVE TO GO BACK!
Perfect Strangers
by Matt D’Anna (@hoop_nerd)
Ten Word Analysis: Surprisingly spacious. Also surprising: if this lineup gets any minutes.
TeamSPACE charts are based on mapped clusters of shot activity. These areas are affectionately called Hunting Grounds, because they are the areas on the court where a player hunts for shots — and successfully scores most often. TeamSPACE takes the Hunting Grounds of all five players in a lineup and puts them on the court together — because, you know, they have to share that physical space, and there is only one ball.
In the past, it was one color per player; which meant that blending colors represented overlapping spaces for shot activity. But this time around, these are not your ordinary TeamSPACE shot maps. Each lineup is analyzed in the aggregate — one color! — and that unit is compared that unit to the rest of the league. So you will see a persistent red layer on every chart, highlighting the league’s Hunting Grounds from last season. The most prolific locations should come as no surprise: the paint, the corners, most of the top of the arc, and a couple of dabs at the foul line and top of the key.
So…how were these lineups chosen for each team? In the past, it’s been about projecting the starting lineup, estimating the most used lineup, or even designing the “most favoritest” lineup. This year? It’s the these charts represent the “most interestingly feasible” lineups….what? That’s a loaded phrase, so let’s unpack it a bit.
The goal is to identify the collection of five players on a team that could potentially play together, and if they did, the offensive results could be glorious. Ideally these lineups aren’t too far-fetched, but also slightly off-kilter and confusing to an opposing defense. While this type of analysis is not conducive for assessing defense, somewhat reasonable decisions are attempted to be made. So while it’s tempting to just put all the best shooters together…how realistic is it (outside of Houston, at least)? And, full disclosure: I favor some stretch in my lineups. It not only provides plenty of high-octane potential, but getting stretchy is also on par with current league-wide trends.
Each TeamSPACE chart has a couple of other sitcom-related features:
Family Matters: You’ll notice a series of Jaleel White’s across half court. Each lineup is scored on a scale of 0-7 Steve Urkels for how well it matches league-wide trends. Remember, there’s seven league Hunting Grounds (right corner three; at the rim; left corner three; foul line/top of the key; right wing; middle 3pt; left wing). A lineup gains points for matching each area; it loses points for messy excess shot activity.
Odd Couple: “Most interestingly feasible” is obviously debatable, so in order to account for some of those decisions, you’ll see Oscar and Felix on each chart. Often, there are players that are in the lineup…and maybe/probably they should not be. They get the Oscar label. And, there are those players that are out of the lineup…and maybe/probably should be included. They are the Felix for their team.
And briefly, a word about data. These strange visual displays are based on last season’s shot data, weighted by made buckets — so rookies and season-long injuries are sadly excluded. This analysis is nothing without the help of Darryl Blackport, and the research materials available atBasketball-Reference and NBA.com. Further, these charts feature some of the best logo re-designs I could curate from the ol’ Information Superhighway, including Dribbble.com and Pinterest. I made none of the logos; I merely selected some of my favorites. Enjoy!
Freaks and Geeks
By Mara Averick (@dataandme)
Absent two of its longtime cornerstone players, Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka, this season will be a dramatic change in OKC. For Russell Westbrook, having a leadership role on and off the court is nothing new. However, for the team to go “maniac” Russ, with Westbrook’s usage rate exceeding his 2015-season 38.3 percent (nearing a 40 percent rate in the games for which KD was inactive) would represent a failure to thrive of sorts for the team as a whole.
While it’s reasonable to expect great things from a player who averaged over 23 points and 10 assists last season, Westbrook has never been a league-leader in offensive efficiency. Of OKC’s top three offensive isolation players (play-type frequency: Dion Waiters, 15.2 percent; Kevin Durant, 14.9 percent, Russell Westbrook, 12.5 percent), per NBA’s Synergy stats, Westbrook had the lowest eFG% (38.8 percent). Additionally, without the threat of Durant on the floor, other teams can afford to put a wing defender on Westbrook. However, with Westbrook joined by new teammate, Victor Oladipo, OKC has the makings of one of the best defensive backcourts in the league. Last season, Westbrook had the highest Defensive Box Plus-Minus (2.4) of any point guard in the league. Though Oladipo’s DBPM of 0.9 with the Orlando Magic was somewhat less impressive, playing alongside another defensively aggressive, athletic guard can enhance Oladipo’s defensive effectiveness.
Andre Roberson and Steven Adams, who have both continued to develop as strong defensive players (they had matching DBPMs of 1.3 last season), will have to be ready to step in behind a pair of guards with a tendency to gamble and go for the steal. Adams has considerable offensive upside as well. He’s developed considerably as the roll man coming off the pick-and-roll, with an eFG% of 63 percent. Roberson, however, has yet to develop a three-point shot (31 percent in the regular season) sufficiently dangerous to draw defenders out and space the court.
On the flip side, Anthony Morrow shot 38.7 percent from outside the arc last season, and could potentially bring that above 40 percent this season. But Morrow has a downside as a defender; his DBPM last year was -3.2. This tradeoff between offense and defense pervades the Thunder’s roster. Among the league’s qualifying players, Enes Kanter (16.7 percent) was second only to Boban Marjanovic for offensive rebound percentage last season. His Offensive Box Plus-Minus (1.3 last season) has been steadily rising, and, at 24, we can expect continued improvement in his shooting and offensive production, But, with a DBPM of -3.1, Kanter has yet to prove himself as a defensive asset.
Coach Billy Donovan will likely play with a variety of combinations to find a balance to make good use of the team’s athleticism and ability to score in transition. Westbrook averaged over 10 drives per game last season, a threat that opposing defenses can focus on in the absence of a legitimate three-point shooter at the wing. Whether this comes from Kyle Singler, Ersan Ilyasova, or Anthony Morrow is yet to be determined.
Singler’s three-point percentage was down last year — under 31 percent, against a career-average of 37 percent — but there’s no reason to think he’ll continue to slide. In addition to OKC’s draft pick, Domantas Sabonis, this will effectively be a rookie season for Alex Abrines, and Josh Huestis (though, technically it’s Huestis’ second season). Huestis performed well in the five regular-season and two playoff game appearances. But it would be foolhardy to extrapolate numbers from such a small sample (despite hitting five of eight threes, Huestis is unlikely to shoot 60 percent from beyond the arc as he gets more time on the court). The season ahead is full of such uncertainties.
Everybody Loves Raymond
By Matt Rutkowski (@MontaWorldPeace)
You guys remember Barack Obama? I was playing Trivial Pursuit with a small collection of plush Minecraft animals when his name came up. I looked into it, and apparently he was King of North America (Ameriking for short) back in the age of the millennials. Hell of a gig if you can get it.
But it made me remember that at one point Barry said that Omar was his favorite character from The Wire. I looked into that, too, and as it turns out Omar was this bad bro with a shotgun who would less-than-peacefully acquire heroin and money from armed drugged dealers. Hell of a gig if you can get it.
As I recall, Omar evolved a bit in season five to become angry vengeance man. He had a list of jerks to kill, an assortment of egos to smash, and all the ill-will necessary to make the world kneel. He wanted fire and blood, which is a reference to an entirely different HBO documentary about dragons.
Omar don’t scare. Omar wanted other people to experience his hatred. Omar had no problem walking to get Cheerios wearing a flashy outfit (it was a shiny green robe of convenience, but it counts) and accidentally scared people out of their livelihood just by passing by.
This reminds me of Russell Westbrook. Does this make Westbrook likeable? Omar was likeable, so yes. Yes it does.
Righteous indignation is one of the more heartwarming narratives out there. Imagine a cozy fire scene. You’re in your favorite recliner with a red wool blanket. It’s snowing outside. There’s a mug of hot chocolate in your hand, and a sleeping cat at your feet. On TV, there’s a slow motion replay of Westbrook bathing in the blood of the wicked. Jeff Van Gundy giggles helplessly. It’s Christmas.
But every day can’t be Christmas. You have to pick your spots. Sometimes you have to wait, possibly in a car, possibly with less than effective backup, ready, still, calm, listening to The Temptations while you scan for weakness in your prey. Then the moment comes. Then you go without knowing if you’re going back.
I don’t know what Westbrook does in his free time. I don’t know what he’s doing to get ready for this season. I imagine it’d frighten me. I can just as easily picture him running endless drills in a gym as I can him staring expressionlessly at a wall while bending steel with his fingertips.
And I don’t know how these things will factor into his play this coming year, either. I can just as easily picture him dropping 50 in his first game as I can him taking 50 shots. He is Zeus and the Thunder is his.
And I think that’s nice. Westbrook is the most likeable player on the Oklahoma City Thunder.
I can’t remember what happened to Omar. I think at the end he got everything he wanted and became president of Baltimore. I bet that’s going to happen with Russell, too.
Boy Meets World
By Chris Stone (@cstonehoops)
Despite recent evidence to the contrary — hello, Lebron James and Kevin Durant — league-shaking free agent decisions are not exactly the norm in the NBA. Still, they happen from time to time and Durant’s move to Golden State this summer fundamentally shifted the balance of power from the once hapless, but current NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers, back to the Bay Area.
Durant’s decision also had obvious ramifications in Oklahoma City where a movement to create a younger, more promising roster was already underway. Before Durant decided to join the Thunder’s Western Conference Finals opponent, long-time power forward Serge Ibaka was shipped off to Orlando on draft night in a move that netted Ersan Ilyasova and two rising talents, Victor Oladipo and rookie Domantas Sabonis. Now, without Durant on the roster, Oklahoma City’s youth movement will be accelerated as players like Oladipo and Sabonis will almost certainly feature more prominently in the organization’s 2016-17 plans.
Oladipo, as the centerpiece to the Ibaka deal, no doubt figured to play a major role for the Thunder even with Durant in the fold, but now that the swingman has left the Sooner State, there will be plenty of possessions to go around. Last season, the 23-year old Oladipo was the second most featured player on the Magic’s roster, posting a usage rate of 22.9 percent while averaging 17.4 points per 36 minutes.
The biggest question is how the new acquisition will fit in next to incumbent superstar Russell Westbrook. Both guards are not particularly efficient scoring options. Neither Oladipo nor Westbrook have ever cracked the 50.0 percent mark in effective field goal percentage and neither player has converted better than 35.0 percent of their three-pointers during their respective careers. The Thunder, then, will likely find the bulk of their points inside the arc and be reliant on offensive rebounds to create second chance opportunities off of low percentage outside shots.
That’s a place where Sabonis may be able to contribute immediately. The 6-10 power forward was one of the top rebounding prospects in the 2016 NBA Draft. In two seasons at Gonzaga, he averaged 14.1 boards per 40 minutes while posting a solid 11.0 percent offensive rebounding percentage. Although Sabonis lacks the traditional length of an NBA big man (6-10.5 wingspan), he plays with an impressive understanding of fundamentals and an immeasurable toughness in the paint. The 20-year old is unlikely to be a significant offensive presence in his first season, but he should provide a nice backup option to the frontline of Enes Kanter and Steven Adams.
The 23-year old Adams figures to situate himself now as either the second or third best player on a team with playoff aspirations, forced to carry a larger role in the absence of Durant. The 7-0 big man took just over 10 shots per 100 possessions last season, but figures to receive more of the offensive load in his fourth season. The most likely scenario will see Adams used more frequently in pick-and-roll situations with Westbrook. Last season, the Aussie averaged 1.12 points per possession as the roll man, good enough to rank in the 76th percentile league-wide. Durant used approximately 30 percent of the Thunder’s offensive possessions during his final year in Oklahoma City, so there will be plenty of shots to go around and Adams will be the recipient of many of them.
Of course, there are other youngsters at Billy Donovan’s disposal, including promising backup point guard Cameron Payne, but Oladipo and Adams figure to play more outsized roles for the Thunder this season while Sabonis hopefully evolves into a serviceable backup big early in his NBA career. The loss of Durant has helped usher in a new era in Oklahoma City and Russell Westbrook won’t be the only player tasked with picking up the slack.