Thunder Draft Rewind: OKC Takes a Shot on Terrance Ferguson in 2017
A victim of their own success at times, Sam Presti has often been able to move around on draft night to put Oklahoma City in a more favorable position.
In 2017, no such moves were made, and the OKC Thunder stood pat and had to settle for pick No. 21, late in the first round.
As a result, Presti took a shot on a guy with potential upside shooting the ball from deep, Terrance Ferguson.
Ferguson opted against playing college basketball, instead heading across the pond to the NBL in Australia.
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Initially, the Tulsa native flashed promise. Appearing in 61 games his rookie season, Ferguson drained 33.3 percent of his 3-point attempts, but he was only jacking up 0.9 3’s per game.
What really got Thunder fans excited about Ferguson is when he was called into the starting lineup to replace Andre Roberson after his gruesome injury. Ferguson showed signs of potentially being a good defender on the wing, with the ability to let the ball fly from deep in a way that Roberson was never going to do.
Headed into his second year with the team, Ferguson started every single one of the 74 games he appeared in. While his minutes leaped from 12.5 per game to 26.1 per game, his shooting took a baby step forward. He increased his numbers from beyond the arc to 36.6 percent, and doubled his scoring output to average 6.9 points per game.
Ferguson was unable to carry his momentum into Year 3, as off the court events in his personal life kept him away from the team for a period of time.
When he returned, he looked a different player, hesitant to shoot at times and unable to get into any kind of rhythm within the flow of the offense.
After his shooting splits dropped and undrafted rookie Lu Dort emerged, it seemed clear Ferguson’s time in Oklahoma City was up.
He was shipped to Philadelphia as a part of the George Hill trade, where he only appeared in 13 games for the 76ers.
The Thunder missed out on a few potential pieces, as Jarret Allen, OG Anunoby and Kyle Kuzma were all taken in the first round after Ferguson.
