Final Regular-Season Grades for Every Oklahoma City Thunder Player

The NBA regular season has come to an end, and for the first time since the 2008-09 campaign, the playoffs will commence without the Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC finished 45-37 and fought for a postseason spot up until the final game, but the team was unable to overcome a sickening amount of critical injuries. 

All things considered, the Thunder deserve credit for not throwing in the towel when they had every reason to do just that.  

Kevin Durant played just one game after the All-Star break due to complications from foot surgery. Serge Ibaka underwent a procedure on his knee in early March and was never heard from again. It seemed like just when a key player was set to return, another one went down. 

In the club's exit interviews, some of the franchise's most notable names acknowledged the effect injuries had on the season, but praised the boys for not giving up, per Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman.

"We had a lot of things that did not go our way," head coach Scott Brooks said. "But we still stuck together."  

Durant echoed similar sentiments:

"

It's definitely been a tough year as far as injuries. A lot of stuff has happened for us this year. Nobody ever quit, nobody ever complained. I've never been more proud as a player of the Thunder than I am today. Because we fought, we could have easily packed it in, but nobody did.

"

Oklahoma City will enter the offseason with two key decisions to make. Midseason addition Enes Kanter is a restricted free agent and the team must find a way to retain his services. Brooks' fate is also up in the air, according to Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, and OKC will need to decide which direction they're heading in as they enter what could be Durant's final year in town. 

With no Thunder basketball to discuss for a while, let's put a bow on one of the strangest seasons in franchise history by evaluating the performance of each player on the roster. 

PG Russell Westbrook

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

Grade: A

Russell Westbrook had plenty of statistical accomplishments this season that will make your head spin when you take the time to reflect back on them, but the one that might best sum up his heroic performance is this: With the team's season on life support, Westbrook averaged 42.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists in the final three games of the year.

The Thunder went 2-1 during that span, including a huge win over the Portland Trail Blazers on the second game of a back-to-back. 

In 2014-15, Westbrook put the team, the city and everyone short of good ol' Jim Ross on his back and carried them as far as his 6'2", 200-pound frame would let him. He won the first scoring title of his career, dropping 28.1 points per game. He also finished fourth in the NBA with 8.6 assists, second in steals (2.1), led all point guards in rebounding (7.3 boards) and had eight more triple-doubles than anyone else in the league. 

His averages in the last three months of the season were nothing short of jaw-dropping:

• February: 31.2 points, 10.3 assists, 9.1 rebounds
• March: 30.9 points, 10.2 assists, 8.5 rebounds
• April: 32.5 points, 8.1 assists, eight rebounds

The scary part is there are things he believes he could have done better, per Mayberry. 

"I want to come back and be a better closer," Westbrook said. "As a point guard, as a leader, I've got to be able to close games the way we want to."

Another impressive stat from Westbrook's huge year is that he led the league with a career-high usage rate of 38.4 percent but still finished with the third-lowest turnover percentage (14.3) of his seven years in the pros, per Basketball-Reference.com. 

The one blemish that kept Westbrook from a flawless grade was he took a ton of shots (1,471 field-goal attempts, tops in the league) but converted just 42.6 percent from the field and 29.9 percent from downtown. 

All in all, however, this was one of the greatest statistical efforts in the sport's history by a player who has established himself as a legitimate MVP candidate going forward.

SG Andre Roberson

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

Grade: D+

After Oklahoma City handles its business with Enes Kanter and Scott Brooks, the next question the team must answer is whether or not Andre Roberson deserves to remain in the starting lineup next season. 

On the one hand, Roberson has developed into one of basketball's most underrated perimeter defenders and fills Brooks' need for a stopper in the backcourt. Opponents shot 39.8 percent from the field with Roberson defending, compared to 44.6 percent normally. He also held outside shooters to a 31 percent mark from behind the arc, per NBA.com. 

"I could be the best defender in the league if I really put my mind to it." Roberson said during his exit interview, per Mayberry. 

While that kind of commitment is commendable, the game isn't only played on one side of the ball. 

With Kendrick Perkins no longer on the roster, Roberson has assumed the big man's role as the first string's biggest offensive liability. The Colorado product shot a respectable 45.8 percent from the field, but converted just 24.7 of his attempts from behind the arc. Oddly enough, that latter number represents a career high. 

Making matters worse, Roberson's 3.4 points per game was the lowest scoring output of any shooting guard in the NBA who qualified to be on the leaderboard. That's not just starting shooting guards. We're talking every shooting guard who played somewhat meaningful minutes this season.

Here are some of the names of guards that averaged more points than A-Rob: the Memphis Grizzlies' Nick Calathes (4.2 points), undrafted Golden State Warriors rookie Justin Holiday (4.3), undrafted Philadelphia 76ers rookie JaKarr Sampson (5.2) and New Orleans Pelicans/Los Angeles Clippers swingman Austin Rivers (seven, on two teams combined). 

While the Thunder have enough weapons to compensate for Roberson's lack of offensive contributions, the team would benefit from having someone in the lineup who is capable of instilling at least some fear in opposing defenses. Roberson's defender can easily sag off his man and focus his attention on someone else, which further burdens the offense. 

Roberson deserves credit for being the team's best perimeter defender, but his anemic offensive skills impact both his grade and his overall ceiling. 

SF Kevin Durant

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

Grade: Incomplete

This season was just short of the worst possible scenario for Kevin Durant and the Thunder.

The good news is he returned from the initial surgery to repair a Jones fracture in his foot and showed flashes of being back to his dominant form. The bad news is his bum wheel never seemed to get right, and he appeared in fewer games for the Thunder (27) than backup point guard Ish Smith (30), who was traded at the Feb. 19 deadline. 

Nagging injuries disrupted the flow of the game's best rhythm shooter, as he dealt with foot surgeries, a sprained ankle and a sore toe. Durant's longest streak of consecutive games played this year was 12, which represents 44.4 percent of his season. 

To his credit, Durant still finished his abbreviated campaign with a stat line of 25.4 points and 6.6 rebounds. It was the seventh-straight year he averaged at least 25 points per game. It's a nice silver lining on a dark cloud of a season.

Durant's frustrations in dealing with the first serious injury of his career spilled over into the public and made him seemingly more combative. He called out the media during the All-Star break, and his spats with followers on Twitter have confounded Hall of Famer Charles Barkley.

"Dude, you are Kevin Durant. Why are you arguing with a plumber?" Barkley asked during an interview with SI.com's Richard Deitsch. 

Durant admitted to being a bit perturbed over the constant hot takes from outside entities but said he plans on using his pent-up anger as motivation for his triumphant return next season, per Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman.

"I'm definitely pissed. I've heard a lot of stuff over this time I've been injured from everybody, from different people. So I can't wait for the first game (of next season)," Durant said. "I like reading that stuff because I get upset and I play well when I get really, really upset."

Based solely on his production during his brief time on the court, Durant is deserving of the usual high marks. However, an NBA regular season is 82 games long, and it's impossible to properly grade someone who played just 32.9 percent of the year. 

PF Serge Ibaka

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

Grade: B+

Serge Ibaka was the only player on the Thunder roster fortunate enough to dodge the injury bug before his luck finally ran out in early March. Ibaka underwent an arthroscopic procedure on March 17 that cut his season short. 

Before he went down, Ibaka was in the midst of a solid all-around campaign. He averaged 14.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, while continuing his development as a floor-spacing big man by shooting 37.6 percent from behind the arc. 

Defensively, The Serge Protector furthered his reputation as one of the game's premier shot-blockers, ranking second in the NBA with 2.4 rejections per contest. Despite missing the final 18 games of the year, his 155 swats were fourth-best in the league. He also finished third with a block percentage of 5.8 percent, per Basketball-Reference.com. 

The case can be made that Ibaka's injury was the final death blow to Oklahoma City's season. Without the Congo native's intimidating presence on the floor, the Thunder defense suffered mightily, hemorrhaging 108.3 points per game. According to NBA.com, OKC had a defensive rating of 101.2 with Ibaka on the floor, as opposed to 105.3 when he was off of it.

When you look back at the team's close April losses to the Dallas Mavericks (135-131 on April 1) and Houston Rockets (115-112), it's hard not to wonder how the season could have ended if Ibaka was on the floor to help get a few key stops. 

C Enes Kanter

Stacy Bengs/Associated Press

Grade: B-

In a sense, Enes Kanter was the reverse Andre Roberson. Offensively, he was a monster, averaging 18.7 points and 11 rebounds in 26 games, while shooting a career-high 56.6 percent from the field. The Thunder's 109.6 offensive rating with Kanter on the floor is the highest of any player on the roster, including Russell Westbrook, per NBA.com. 

On the flip side, Kanter's matador defense negates his offensive contributions. The team has a defensive rating of 110.4 when Kanter is on the floor, leading to a net rating of minus-0.7. When Kanter takes a seat, that number improves to 103.3 with a net rating of 2.9.

After an impressive (albeit one-dimensional) run with the Thunder, the focus now shifts to the Turkish Tower's future with the franchise. As a restricted free agent with less than seven years of service, the 22-year-old is entitled to a new deal worth up to 25 percent of the team's cap. That's a max of approximately $16.5 million per year.  

While there's no guarantee Kanter will get an offer that large, the team must decide how much it is willing to spend on a fourth option who hurts the team on the defensive side of the court. With Kevin Durant hitting free agency next summer, it may be understandable to do whatever it takes to win now, but the small-market Thunder must consider how overpaying Kanter could impact the team's future. 

Plus, with OKC already having Steven Adams, Serge Ibaka and Mitch McGary on the roster, someone is bound to be the odd man out if Kanter returns.

Fortunately, Kanter seems content in his new surroundings and doesn't seem bothered by the forthcoming free-agent frenzy, per Darnell Mayberry and Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman.  

"

I love it here. Oklahoma City was obviously a good fit for me from day one. They opened their arms. I just like playing with all of these guys. They give it 100 percent every time. I would definitely like to come back here...I’m not nervous at all, and I have no idea what kind of contract I’m going to get. Like I said, I just want to be on a team, I just want to be happy and I just want to see this team get success and make the playoffs. I’m not nervous at all. That contract thing, my agent handles it. I’m not really worried about it.

"

Regardless of what the future holds for Kanter, his value on offense will always be impacted by his lack of defense. 

Sixth Man G Dion Waiters

Alonzo Adams/Associated Press

Grade: C+ 

Dion Waiters is the most intriguing player of everyone under contract with the Thunder for next season. The 23-year-old has the potential to be a dynamic weapon off the bench, but his struggles with consistency at both ends of the floor limit his ceiling. 

Waiters had some bright spots during his stint in Oklahoma City, but much like his tenure with Cleveland Cavaliers, he never showed the ability to string those strong performances together.

For instance, Waiters ended the season with a 33-point outing (12-of-23 from the field, 52.2 percent) in a must-win game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. In the two games prior to the finale, he tallied a combined 29 points on 11-of-37 (29.7 percent) shooting. In the game before that, he went 9-of-19 from the floor (47.4 percent) and dropped 22 points on the Sacramento Kings. 

That's just a sample of the kind of hit-or-miss production the Thunder have received in the 47 games he's appeared in since coming over from Cleveland in January. On top of that, his shot selection can be maddening at times, and his 31.9 percent from three leaves much to be desired. 

Still, he represents OKC's best shot at having a two-way guard on the roster. Head coach Scott Brooks has been pleased with the improvements he's seen out of the former Syracuse guard, per Tramel. 

"I like what he does. He brings a lot of toughness. And he can make shots. He’s done a great job competing. He’s a strong athlete. Defensively, I see some growth since the trade.”

Waiters hasn't been stout defensively, but he hasn't been a walking turnstile either. Opponents are shooting 44.4 percent from the field with Waiters defending, which is only 0.6 percent increase from their normal conversion rate, per NBA.com. The Thunder also have a plus-3 net rating when he's on the floor, and a minus-0.8 when he sits.

As always, it's a matter of effort. When he brings it, he's a key contributor capable of taking pressure off the team's stars. When he doesn't, the team suffers at both ends of the court. 

Key Reserve G Anthony Morrow

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

Grade: B- 

The Thunder brought sharpshooter Anthony Morrow in to give the team a threat on the perimeter, and he delivered during the second half of the season. Since the start of February, the man known as "Chocolate Reign" has shot better than 47 percent from three each month. 

In total, Morrow's 43.4 percent from deep was seventh-best in the NBA and his 141 threes tied for 14th place. On a team that finished 22nd with a collective 33.9 percent from behind the arc, that kind of accuracy from deep came in handy.

Morrow's importance grew down the stretch with Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka sidelined. The Georgia Tech product's ability to space the floor opens things up for Russell Westbrook and Dion Waiters, who are better-suited attacking the basket instead of settling for jumpers.  

Of course, Morrow isn't without his share of flaws. He struggles at the defensive end, as evidenced by his defensive rating of 108 this season, and his minus-1.8 defensive box plus/minus is second-worst of players actively in the Thunder rotation. 

Plus, his offensive production is contingent on him finding a rhythm from behind the arc. Of the 614 shots he attempted, 325 of them were three-pointers. That accounts for 52.9 percent of his takes this season. 

Morrow's impact will be even greater next season when the team returns to full strength and he can feast on the defensive attention paid to the other guys on the floor. This season, he was a niche player that did what he was paid to do: shoot the rock. 

Remaining Bench Reserves

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

C Steven Adams

Grade: C

Adams made some strides during his second season in the pros, averaging 7.7 points and 7.5 boards, but he broke his hand in February and got usurped by Enes Kanter. Still, he's a tough interior defender who averaged 1.2 blocks per game and held opponents to 54.7 percent shooting from within six feet. 

Going forward, improvement at both ends of the refs' whistle will work wonders for the 21-year-old. He averaged 3.2 fouls per game (eighth-highest in the NBA), while converting just 50.2 percent of his attempts at the charity stripe. 

PF Nick Collison

Grade: C-

Collison followed up the worst statistical season of his career (4.2 points, 3.6 boards, 55.6 percent from the field) by being even less productive offensively this year (4.1 points, 41.9 percent from the field).

However, the 34-year-old's value to the team is in the things not found on the stat sheet such as leadership, setting quality picks and taking charges. His presence in the locker room is paramount to his presence on the floor. 

PF Mitch McGary

Grade: C-

He brings a combination of energy, post scoring and poor dance moves that could quickly make him a fan favorite. The next step for Mitchy Hustle is proving he can stay healthy after an injury-riddled rookie campaign and improving on his defensive chops. 

SF Kyle Singler

Grade: F

Singler, a restricted free agent this summer, expressed a desire to stay in Oklahoma City but, with an average of 3.7 points per game and a 33.3 percent mark from the field, the team would be wise to look elsewhere for a quality backup small forward.

PG D.J. Augustin

Grade: D-

Augustin got off to a hot start after coming over from the Detroit Pistons in the Kanter trade but disappeared not long after and hasn't made much of an impact since. 

F Perry Jones

Grade: F

Jones looked like a potential breakout candidate after his first five games in relief of Kevin Durant, but he injured his knee and was never the same. As a testament to his standing with the team, Jones failed to log meaningful time even with Durant hurt and Singler struggling mightily. 

SG Jeremy Lamb

Grade: D-

After being a part of the rotation for much of the first half, Lamb was relegated to mop-up duty by the start of 2015. In his exit interview, he pined for a chance to showcase his skills, regardless of "if it's here or somewhere else."

With three other shooting guards on the roster, the smart money is on it being somewhere else. 

F Steve Novak

Grade: Incomplete 

His time on the floor in Oklahoma City (88 minutes in 13 games) was only slightly longer than an episode of Game of Thrones. As a big man whose game is predicated on knocking down the deep ball, he didn't help his cause by shooting 20 percent from three during his Thunder tenure.