Small Ball: Will OKC Thunder Have Rebounding Issue This Season?
The Oklahoma City Thunder seem to have committed to the positionless style of play that the NBA is shifting towards. With that in mind, they’ll be playing guys in multiple positions all season.
While the Thunder are loaded with young, versatile talent, the one position they lack depth at is center.
Keep in mind, Oklahoma City does have several players that can play small ball center, but it’s not something that’s sustainable for an entire game. Regardless of the style of play, every team needs true centers on the roster to play the bulk of the minutes down low. In terms of rebounding and protecting the rim, this is a necessity.
As of now, the only true center on the Thunder roster is Derrick Favors. To make things worse, he’s only 6-foot-9 and only averages 7.2 rebounds per game over his career.
Everyone on the depth chart behind him will be a forward playing up a position. If OKC brings any young centers into training camp, they’ll have a real shot at making the roster because of this. For now, it’s their weakest position.
Oklahoma City has always been known as an excellent rebounding team with guys like Steven Adams, Nerlens Noel, Enes Kanter and others seemingly always winning the battle on the glass. Potentially being a poor rebounding team this season will be something the Thunder haven't experienced in a long time.
In fact, it’s somewhat of a complete identity change. As the league shifts to more of a floor-spacing and fast game, OKC is adapting and not prioritizing adding traditional centers to the roster.
Through the past seven seasons, the Thunder were top-six in the league in rebounding for six of those seasons. This included three-straight years as the NBA’s top rebounding team.
Going forward, this will be hard to sustain with the way the roster is built. If they want to have success on the boards this season, the entire roster, including guards, will have to attack the glass.
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