3 Biggest Issues Oklahoma City Thunder Must Address at the 2015 Trade Deadline
The Oklahoma City Thunder are in uncharted territory. Over the last few years, they’ve grown accustomed to a high seed in the Western Conference and life as a title favorite. This year, they’re scratching and clawing to even make the playoffs, and must address a few issues before they make any real noise in the postseason against stiff Western Conference competition.
General manager Sam Presti has already made an uncharacteristically sizable trade to bring in Dion Waiters, but he may not be done making moves. Chris Broussard of ESPN The Magazine reported that the Thunder are engaged in talks with the Brooklyn Nets to acquire Brook Lopez, but there are a few other areas where Presti could be searching for an upgrade.
Backup Small Forward
There are minor concerns regarding fit and skill sets at various spots, but the depth chart looks good for the most part. The Thunder have solid backups everywhere except small forward, where they have been playing Anthony Morrow (out of his natural position) ahead of Perry Jones.
It makes sense for the Thunder to not invest heavily in a backup small forward because Kevin Durant has been a workhorse, playing more than 38.5 minutes per game in all but two of his NBA seasons. Unfortunately, one of those two seasons is this year, as Durant’s playing time has been scaled back after his stress fracture.
It’s not a crucial area to upgrade, especially since Durant’s minutes will probably increase in the postseason, but a quality backup small forward could make a noticeable difference. For starters, it could keep Durant fresher by making head coach Scott Brooks less nervous about sitting the reigning MVP. Furthermore, a better backup small forward could make small-ball lineups even more dangerous than they already are.
Three-Point Shooting
The cliche that “jump-shooting teams don’t win championships” has expired—someone just has to tell Los Angeles Lakers head coach Byron Scott. Teams that only rely on throwing up treys (e.g. the Nellie Ball Warriors) don’t make it far in the playoffs, but the three-point shot has become an integral part of NBA success in both the regular season and the playoffs.
Don’t take my word for it, just look at the numbers of recent teams to make the finals:
| 2010-11 | Dallas Mavericks | 36.5 | 11th |
| 2010-11 | Miami Heat | 37.0 | 7th |
| 2011-12 | Miami Heat | 35.8 | 9th |
| 2011-12 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 35.8 | 11th |
| 2012-13 | Miami Heat | 39.6 | 2nd |
| 2012-13 | San Antonio Spurs | 37.6 | 4th |
| 2013-14 | San Antonio Spurs | 39.7 | 1st |
| 2013-14 | Miami Heat | 36.4 | 12th |
This stat from Baxter Holmes of ESPN also shows how important the three-pointer has been in recent playoff history:
Unfortunately, that casts a gloomy shadow over this year’s OKC squad and its chance of making a deep postseason run. This is the worst Thunder team from beyond the arc in the last five seasons:
| 2010-11 | 34.7 | 19th |
| 2011-12 | 35.8 | 11th |
| 2012-13 | 37.7 | 3rd |
| 2013-14 | 36.1 | 14th |
| 2014-15 | 32.0 | 27th |
That shortcoming will very likely rear its ugly head in the playoffs. Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka and Anthony Morrow are all shooting the three-ball very well, but the problem originates from the other big-minute players on the roster:
| Kevin Durant | 40.8 | 5.4 |
| Serge Ibaka | 40.8 | 3.6 |
| Anthony Morrow | 37.7 | 4.2 |
| Jeremy Lamb | 34.5 | 2.9 |
| Reggie Jackson | 28.2 | 3.6 |
| Perry Jones | 26.7 | 1.9 |
| Dion Waiters | 26.1 | 3.3 |
| Russell Westbrook | 23.9 | 3.1 |
| Nick Collison | 23.4 | 1.3 |
| Andre Roberson | 17.8 | 1.3 |
Russell Westbrook, Reggie Jackson and Dion Waiters are all taking more than three long-range shots per game despite the fact that none of them connect on more than 30 percent of those attempts. With all three players logging around 30 minutes per game, two of them are often on the court at the same time, and that will create serious spacing issues in the postseason when teams have time to practice, scout and plan.
The problem can be partially addressed from within. Those three can be more selective about the three-pointers they’re taking (although a good deal of them already appear to be fairly open shots off drive-and-kick opportunities).
Additionally, head coach Scott Brooks could draw up a few more sets that create space for his best shooters. For example, getting Morrow involved in more off-ball screen action or Ibaka involved in more pick-and-pops that generate threes instead of long twos could give the team a little bump in its three-point percentage.
That kind of minor adjustment, however, will only go so far. The bottom line is that the roster doesn’t have enough shooters who truly scare defenses. In the playoffs, it will be a no-brainer for an opposing defense to double-team Durant at the expense of conceding threes to Westbrook or Waiters. Instead, Presti should be looking at the caliber of long-range gunners he can acquire through trades.
There won’t be a ton of minutes to go around, but a shooter who could play spot minutes could end up being a factor in a playoff series just for floor-spacing purposes alone.
Upgrade the “Designated Defender”
The Thunder moved on from Thabo Sefolosha after his offensive game evaporated during the second half of last season. His replacement, Andre Roberson, has not been a significant upgrade.
That’s not to heap criticism on Roberson. He’s long, athletic and shows the tenacity to become a defensive menace. Additionally, he’s shown a little more off-the-bounce ability than Sefolosha did, and he has plenty of time and room to develop.
But the resemblance to last year’s Sefolosha is uncanny. Roberson has hit less than 20 percent of his threes, and it’s gotten so bad that he’s passing up wide-open looks. As a result, defenses are completely abandoning him without repercussion:
This plagued the Thunder in last year’s playoffs, and history will repeat itself unless they can upgrade their specialized defender. That’s not a call to trade Roberson away, (because he has potential), but he’s going to hurt this team in the playoffs if he's playing 20 minutes a game.
A designated defender who has even a semblance of a three-point stroke would be a major improvement.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
