As Injuries Steal Thunder's Heart, OKC Looking for Ways to Survive Season Ahead
It's hard to see hope through the thicket of walking boots, casts, Ace bandages and gauze littering the Oklahoma City Thunder locker room. Kevin Durant (broken foot) can't walk. Russell Westbrook (broken hand) can't catch. An injury plague of biblical proportions has left the Thunder depleted, dumbfounded.
But Nick Collison is an optimistic sort of guy, and he insists the silver lining is there—if you squint hard enough.
"We still got five good defenders out there," the 11-year veteran assures a reporter. "We got all our bigs. Andre's probably one of our best perimeter defenders. Perry's one of our best defenders."
This was Monday morning, and Collison was bravely charting the ways in which the Thunder would remain competitive without Durant and Westbrook, their two electrifying stars.
That night, Andre Roberson sprained his left foot in Brooklyn and left the game.
The next night, Perry Jones bruised his right knee in Toronto and left the game.
The Thunder lost both games, leaving them with a 1-4 record and two fewer reasons to be optimistic.
In this cruel November, even the Thunder's silver linings are fractured.
"I don't really know what to say, other than it's unfortunate we had another injury," coach Scott Brooks said late Monday. "That's just how things are going right now. But we're not throwing the white flag. We're going to keep battling."
It's hard to overstate just how dire the situation in Oklahoma has become, with Durant and Westbrook out for the foreseeable future and the roster gutted by a dizzying array of fractures, strains and sprains.
Jeremy Lamb has been out with a sprained back, but he practiced Thursday and is expected to return Friday night against Memphis. Mitch McGary is out with a broken foot. Anthony Morrow has been out with a sprained knee and was limited in practice Thursday. Grant Jerrett is recovering from ankle surgery.
Jones, who suffered what the team called a knee contusion, didn't practice Thursday. No details of the injury have been released, but it is not considered serious and he is expected back soon.
Circumstances have dictated a complete overhaul of the Thunder's agenda: from title contention to mere survival. Even a postseason berth is not assured.
It could take 50 wins to make the Western Conference playoffs. Westbrook is out for at least four weeks. Durant could miss 25 games or more. The Thunder's entire season now boils down to simple math, and two figures in particular: How far out of eighth place will they be when Durant and Westbrook return? And can they win at a high enough rate to make up the distance?
The answers to those questions may be linked to one more: How good is Perry Jones?
Of the remaining Thunder players, Serge Ibaka is the most accomplished, and Reggie Jackson, the young point guard, is the most offensively skilled. But the 23-year-old Jones is easily the most intriguing, and perhaps the key to the team's survival.
On the night Westbrook broke his hand, Jones scored 32 points in a narrow loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Two nights later, he scored 23 points in a victory over the Denver Nuggets. On Monday, Jones scored a relatively quiet 16 points against Brooklyn.
Still, that was three straight games of beating his previous career high (14 points), all while displaying the rare combination of size, skill and athleticism that made Jones such a tantalizing prospect in college.
At 6'11" with a 7'2" wingspan, Jones has the size to play in the paint and the speed to play on the perimeter, with ball-handling skills and shooting range.
"At certain moments, he looks like a young Magic Johnson, only a little bigger and a lot faster," a New York Times Magazine story raved in 2011, during Jones' freshman season at Baylor.
At the time, Jones was pegged as a top-five draft pick. But he chose to return to Baylor for his sophomore season, to continue growing and maturing. He was still viewed as a high lottery pick in 2012, until concerns about his knees and his motor caused him to free-fall on draft night.
The Thunder snatched Jones with the 28th pick.
Some teams were scared off by whispers of a degenerative knee condition. Some viewed his laid-back demeanor with suspicion—an indication that, despite his admirable skill set, Jones would never become a star.
But the star-studded Thunder didn't need another alpha male. In Jones, they saw an ideal complement to Durant and Westbrook: a player who could do it all but didn't need to. An elite talent, without the ego.
"He fit the profile of the types of players that we're generally attracted to," general manager Sam Presti said, listing Jones' size, length, quickness and positional versatility.
"And he's also a guy that is a tremendously diligent worker and he wants to fit in and find ways to blend with the players that are generally carrying the bulk of the weight," Presti said. "I think that's a tremendous quality for someone as talented as him."
The Thunder also had the luxury of letting Jones develop. He spent his rookie season shuttling frequently between the Thunder and their D-League affiliate in Tulsa. He played in just 38 NBA games, averaging 7.4 minutes.
"I think it'd be frustrating for any player," Jones said. "But also it was a learning experience for me. The last two years have been nothing but learning experiences. What these guys do every day, following in their footsteps, working hard every day. ... Patience is the key."
Last season, Jones became more of a fixture, appearing in 62 games for the Thunder but averaging just 12.3 minutes. Along the way, he has polished his three-point stroke and his ball-handling skills.
Jones shot 36 percent on three-pointers last season, on 61 attempts, after taking just two shots from behind the arc as a rookie. Through four games this season, he was shooting 38 percent (8-of-21). He's also improved his post game.
In athletic testing, Jones outscores the entire Thunder roster, Westbrook and Durant included. He has proven most valuable as the stretch 4 in a small-ball lineup, according to the team's internal analytics.
"We knew he obviously has the talent," Brooks said of Jones. "It's hard to get minutes when you're behind KD. But he's always been a worker. ... I'm not going to sit here and say we knew that he was going to score 23 and 32 in two games. But I knew he had the ability to score."
Although Jones is not a lockdown defender, his versatility is an asset, especially against the pick and roll, allowing him to switch at will. Over the course of Monday's game, Jones guarded Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Alan Anderson and Bojan Bogdanovic.
But it's Jones' offensive potential that matters most right now, with the Thunder missing about 54 points a game between Durant and Westbrook. Ibaka has improved as a scorer, and Jackson showed some flashes last season. Yet in lieu of a single, dominant scoring threat, the Thunder will need multiple options to stay afloat in the coming weeks.
After two years of playing behind Durant, and battling him daily in practice, Jones may need to emulate him.
"I think his assertiveness is maybe that light bulb that's gone off," Collison said. "He's had the ability. If you watch him in a workout, he's capable of doing anything on the court. He's as talented as anybody in the league. It's just that comfort level and always just being assertive out there, not questioning, not second-guessing, and it's great to see. Hopefully, he can keep going."
The coming weeks will be a test—not only of Jones, but of the Thunder's entire roster-building strategy during the Durant-Westbrook era. Their fate rests for now on lower first-round picks like Jones, Jackson (24th in 2013) and Roberson (26th in 2013, by Minnesota). It rests, as well, on the players and picks acquired in the James Harden trade: Steven Adams, Lamb and McGary (once healthy).
Thunder officials believe they have assembled a sturdy, versatile and talented second group behind their stars, despite the low picks and salary-cap constraints. That faith, too, will be tested in the weeks ahead.
Westbrook and Durant could lead the Thunder to the championship next June. But that can't happen unless Jones, Jackson and Adams can get them through December.
Howard Beck is a senior writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @HowardBeck.
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