Midseason Report Card Grades for Every Oklahoma City Thunder Positional Group

As the midseason mark approaches, the Oklahoma City Thunder find themselves in unfamiliar territory. The team is trying to claw its way out of an early hole and into a playoff spot with 42 games left to go. 

The good news is that the Thunder have momentum on their side. They recently pulled off their biggest win of the season: a 127-115 upset of the Golden State Warriors. The bad news is the club is still three games behind the Phoenix Suns for the eighth seed in the West.

A slew of early injuries, particularly to stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, caused OKC to stumble out of the gate. Now healthy, Scott Brooks' boys have been recently hampered by defensive woes. They've given up an average of 109.8 points in their last nine games, which is a far cry from the 98.8 points they had been allowing all season. 

With a core of Durant, Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and the newly acquired Dion Waiters, Oklahoma City has the talent to turn things around and make life miserable for teams in the postseason. It's just a matter of sustaining momentum and playing like the team that has won at least 50 games in four of the last five seasons. 

With 2014-15 nearing the midway point, this seems like the perfect time to hand out some grades. As a reminder, each position is scored as a group with production, expectations and effort at both ends of the court taken into consideration.

Point Guard

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Starter: Russell Westbrook

Reserves: Reggie Jackson, Ish Smith

After missing nearly the entire first month of the season with a hand injury, Russell Westbrook has come back with a vengeance, playing like an All-Star and dark-horse MVP contender. He's averaging 25.1 points (unofficially fourth best in the NBA), 7.5 assists (eighth), 5.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals (first) per game. He also leads the league in awkward postgame interviews. 

Westbrook was particularly stellar in the Oklahoma City Thunder's big win over the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 16. He finished with 17 points, 15 boards and 17 dimes in 36 minutes, becoming just the fourth player to join the 17-15-17 club since the 1985-85 season, per Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. He notched four steals as well, for good measure. 

"Russell was all over the floor," head coach Scott Brooks said afterward, per Slater. "I thought there was two of them out there."

As good as his execution has been offensively, Westbrook has been just as solid at the other end. According to Basketball-Reference.com, he's posting a defensive rating of 100.8 (17th best in the NBA) and is second with a steal percentage (rate of possessions that end with a steal when he's on the floor) of 3.8.

If there's a bone to pick with the Long Beach blur's efforts on the court, it would be his lackluster shooting percentages. He's converting 43.2 percent from the field and just 25.6 percent from three, his worst outputs since his second season in the pros. It's scary to think what his numbers would be like if he gets those marks up.

Meanwhile, Reggie Jackson has turned what had been a disappointing year, in terms of his desired role, into the most productive one of his career. The 24-year-old is averaging 14.7 points, 4.8 assists and 4.2 rebounds, all of which are career highs. It's a nice feather in the cap for a guy who will be a restricted free agent this summer. 

However, while Jackson has been productive, you have to wonder if he's happy. For quite some time, he's wanted to be in OKC's starting rotation. It didn't happen. Now, in the midst of his best season, he has to deal with the arrival of Dion Waiters, who has similar talents and playing style. 

In the four games since his Thunder debut on Jan.7, Waiters has logged as much or more playing time than Jackson. So, if the starting job Jackson wanted belongs to Andre Roberson, and he's now taking a back seat to Waiters as the team's sixth man, what does this mean for Jackson's tenure in OKC?

ESPN.com's Royce Young weighed in:

"The addition of Waiters has complicated not only Jackson's present but also his future. It gives the Thunder extra leverage and the ability to to call any bluff in the offseason, as well as trade Jackson for return on investment now if they fear he's beyond keeping."

The Jackson situation is an interesting story to keep an eye on. With the trade deadline approaching and the team needing to do what it can to get into the postseason, it might be wise for the Thunder to start dangling the ace up their sleeve.

Lastly, there's Ish Smith, who went from injury fill-in to beating out Sebastian Telfair as the team's third point guard. Much like Jackson, Smith has seen his role diminished by the addition of Waiters. He's played just 12 minutes since the former Cleveland Cavalier came to town.

Overall, Westbrook's excellence and the chip on Jackson's shoulder make this a pretty stellar group.

Grade: A 

Shooting Guard

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Starter: Andre Roberson

Reserves: Dion Waiters, Anthony Morrow, Jeremy Lamb

The Thunder installed Andre Roberson as the starting shooting guard to fill the defensive void left by Thabo Sefolosha's departure. So far, he's lived up to his billing as a blossoming perimeter stopper. According to NBA.com, opponents are shooting just 36.7 percent with the Colorado product defending, compared to 45.0 percent normally. 

He's posting a defensive rating of 102 as well as modest numbers in both steal percentage (2.0 percent) and block percentage (2.2). His efforts at that end of the floor haven't gone unnoticed by the veterans on the roster.

"He's been putting on a clinic," center Kendrick Perkins said in December, per Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. "And what he brings to the table, you can’t replace. You look at guys and you see what their worth is when you see what they can do without the basketball in their hands; if they can help you win without the basketball. And he’s one of them.”

On the flip side, Roberson's offense has been bowling-shoe ugly. He's averaging just four points per game and shooting a ghastly 16.3 percent from behind the arc. His inability to keep opposing defenses honest might explain why Dion Waiters has played over him since the Syracuse guard arrived in a three-team trade in early January. In five games, Roberson has logged just 67 minutes, while Waiters has been on the floor for 138.

Speaking of Waiters, it didn't take long for him to make an impact with his new team. He's contributed 14.4 points per game with the Thunder. He's also made some some nice defensive plays, including this volleyball spike of Patrick Beverley's shot against the Houston Rockets. 

He's also been welcomed in by the team's two biggest stars. According to Young, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook requested Waiters' locker be moved next to theirs. It took the 23-year-old all of four games to be invited to the cool kids' table.  

Before Waiters came along, Anthony Morrow was OKC's prized acquisition. The Thunder stole the veteran three-point marksman off the free-agent market with a three-year, $10 million deal this past summer. Morrow hasn't had a ton of big games this season, but he's provided the Thunder exactly what they brought him in for: outside shooting. 

He's converting 37.4 percent of his attempts from behind the arc, which ties him for 42nd in the league. He's currently stuck in what has become a crowded shooting guard position. However, his ability to get hot from downtown will come in handy down the stretch. 

Finally, there's Jeremy Lamb, who has gone from the crown jewel of the James Harden trade, to a promising young prospect, to being fazed out of the rotation in the span of three years. With his lack of consistency and the team's depth at the 2, Lamb's best chance at getting on the court with the Thunder these days would be tripping over the sidelines. 

In his last nine games, the 22-year-old has notched just 20 total minutes. That stretch includes four games in which he did not play. According to ESPN's Chris Broussard, he was nearly sent to the Brooklyn Nets as part of the rumored Brook Lopez trade that eventually fell apart last week. 

Shooting guard is, by far, Oklahoma City's deepest position. The problem is the depth chart is filled with niche players. Roberson's specialty is defense. Waiters is an offensive creator. Morrow is mainly a shooter. It is also tough to carve out consistent playing time for everybody with so many bodies worthy of minutes. 

The sum of all its parts makes this a decent group, but some streamlining is definitely in order. 

Grade: B-

Small Forward

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Starter: Kevin Durant

Reserve: Perry Jones

This season, Kevin Durant has had almost as many comebacks as Sugar Ray Leonard. After missing the first 17 games of the season following foot surgery, the reigning MVP would go down with a sprained ankle nearly three weeks later. 

The bum ankle would keep him out for six games. When he came back the second time, he looked more like the KD of old. He's scored 30-plus points in four of his last eight games, including a 44-point night against the Phoenix Suns on New Year's Eve. 

"I think that's what I was put on this Earth to do is to score," Durant said, per Young. "I can do everything in the game, I feel like. I can play defense, I can rebound, I can pass, but that's what I do, is score. Sometimes you've got to remind people what you do. They tend to forget." 

Durant's 25.4 points per game leads the team and would be third best in the NBA, if not for all of those missed games. He's also posting a player efficiency rating of 30.48, according to ESPN.com, which is second only to New Orleans Pelicans big man Anthony Davis. 

He's putting in work on the boards, averaging nine rebounds since his return from the ankle injury. In regard to his defense, he's notched a respectable defensive rating of 102 while holding opponents to 40.8 percent shooting.

Going forward, Durant's health is imperative to both the Thunder's playoff chances and any shot at making a championship run. His 30.7 percent usage rate is just a shade lower than last year's league-leading 33 percent. Only eight players in the NBA are being utilized more than The Durantula. 

Of course, the key to keeping Durant fresh is having a backup capable of spelling him. Perry Jones doesn't appear to be that guy. After looking like a potential breakout star playing in place of KD early in the season, Jones has slipped back to being an afterthought. 

He's contributing just 6.4 points per game and has failed to score in three of his last four outings. Given Durant's importance to the team, it might be in OKC's best interest to upgrade the depth here. Someone like the Denver Nuggets' Wilson Chandler, whom the team reportedly had prior interest in, according to Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix, would be a nice target. 

Jones' inability to keep his momentum going after missing time with a knee contusion hurts the position's grade a little, but luckily, the Thunder still have one of the game's two best players in Durant to make up for it. 

Grade: A-

Power Forward

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Starter: Serge Ibaka

Reserves: Nick Collison, Mitch McGary (injured)

Oklahoma City Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka is steadily evolving into one of the most well-rounded big men in the league. The 25-year-old has reformed himself as the quintessential 3-and-D guy.

He's averaging 3.6 trey attempts per game and converting 41.7 percent (tied for 13th in the NBA) from downtown, both of which are career highs. He's putting up 14.6 points a night, which is only slightly down from last season's 15.1. 

More importantly, the team's upset win over the Golden State Warriors gave OKC a glimpse of what can happen when it utilizes its star forward properly, especially in the fourth quarter. Mayberry explains: 

"Tag-teaming with Russell Westbrook on basic pick-and-pop plays, Ibaka scored 14 of 18 Thunder points in a span of 5 minutes, 43 seconds to turn a four-point lead into a 13-point advantage. Ibaka was 6-for-7 from the field in the quarter, with each of his makes assisted by Westbrook."

Prior to his 27-point night against the Warriors, Ibaka had taken just 76 fourth-quarter shots in 38 games. He put up nine against Golden State. 

Defensively, he's still The Serge Protector. After leading the league in total blocks for the past four seasons, he ranks fourth this season with 90 rejections. His 2.25 swats per game is fourth best in the league as well. Per NBA.com, opponents are shooting 48 percent from less than six feet with Ibaka defending, compared to 59.5 percent normally. 

That's the good news. 

This is the bad news: Beyond Ibaka, there isn't much to get excited about. Thirty-four-year-old Nick Collison continues to decline. He's contributing career-low numbers in scoring (4.1 points per game) and rebounding (3.4). His presence in the locker room has been the sole redeeming quality for the 11-year vet. 

Promising rookie Mitch McGary has played in just one game this season thanks to a myriad of injuries. He was initially sidelined with a fracture in his foot. After recovering from that, he's missed time with inflammation in his tibia. If he can stay healthy, he could develop into a decent caddy to Ibaka. 

Ibaka's offensive improvement, paired with his reputation as a great shot-blocker, salvages this position. However, the team still needs low-post scoring, and depth is a concern. 

Grade: B- 

Center

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Starter: Steven Adams

Reserve: Kendrick Perkins

In his second pro season and first as a starter, Steven Adams has done an admirable job at both ends of the court. He's averaging 7.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per contest and shooting 52.8 percent from the field. He's notched 1.1 blocks and is holding opponents to an overall conversion rate of 44.2 percent, according to NBA.com

Those are respectable numbers for a kid just six months removed from being able to legally buy his first can of beer. However, they weren't respectable enough to keep the team from reportedly exploring an upgrade via Brooklyn Nets big man Brook Lopez. 

According to Broussard, there were discussions about two possible deals that would have brought the All-Star center to Oklahoma City. The first was a three-team trade that involved the Charlotte Hornets' Lance Stephenson. The other was a traditional swap that would have sent Kendrick Perkins and Jeremy Lamb to Brooklyn. 

Nothing ever came to fruition. 

When healthy, Lopez is the finished product of what the Thunder hope Adams will someday be. He would have been the low-post threat the team sorely needed. Instead, the team has to rely on the big Kiwi as its main scoring option in the paint. His continued development raises OKC's overall ceiling, and his toughness give the team its edge. 

As for Perkins, his role in mentoring Adams has been more important than any numbers the big Texan could provide on a stat sheet. 

"I always go to Perk," Adams said, per Slater. "Perk knows like everyone. He should write a book. It's crazy. He knows all their tendencies and I just try to do what he does."

The decision to essentially replace Perkins with Lopez makes sense on the court. Perkins is scoring 4.2 points and grabbing 5.8 rebounds per game. His offensive rating of 86 is the lowest of his 12-year career. Defense is really the only thing he brings to the table when he's on the floor. 

Off the court, it would have been interesting to see who would have taken Adams under their wing with Perkins gone. Lopez? Collison? The coaching staff?

As long as the possibility of Lopez joining Kevin Durant and Co. still looms, the Thunder's center position remains intriguing. Right now, they are the basketball equivalent of The Karate Kid, with a grizzled old veteran showing a promising young prodigy the ways of being a warrior.

Grade: C- 

Note: All stats are current as of Jan. 18 and are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.