Thunder Searching for Offensive Identity, Consistent Shots
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s roster turnover in the last two seasons has been immense. From the 2018-19 team, Billy Donovan’s last season in charge, 10 of the 15 players on roster have moved on via trade, free agency or waivers.
Left behind were four players totalling five seasons of NBA experience, and Mike Muscala, who has only ever served as a complimentary piece in the Thunder’s puzzle.
With that level of roster churn, partnered with seven rookies in the next two years and the Thunder were left with a roster full of players who had little experience playing with one another.
As far as the 2021-22 season is concerned it has seen more than its fair share of growing pains. A 19th-ranked Thunder defense paired with a league-worst offense has brought some glaring weaknesses to the forefront.
The Thunder rank dead-last in the NBA in assists at 20.2. Pair that with a league-low 30.7% from behind the arc and the third-worst rate from inside of it (48.8%), the Thunder struggle to consistently find shots that count as quality.
Coach Mark Daigneault has said that the Thunder look to lead from the paint on both sides of the ball, but aside from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — who scores 64% of his points inside the paint — the Thunder have had difficulties consistently following through on this plan.
Plays like this are few and far between forcing Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort to attempt difficult shots like this to keep this growing offense afloat.
And on Nights like the Thunder's previous two games, when Gilgeous-Alexander's shots aren't falling, the Thunder are left looking like a lost kid in a grocery store.
The Thunder’s offense has been a showcase of who can create their own shot — led by Gilgeous-Alexander and Dort — leaving some who cannot consistently do so, behind.
This type of offense has shown to be a near-perfect fit for rookie guard Tre Mann. He has displayed the ability to create space against any level of competition, and has become a nice spark plug off the bench in place of the starting backcourt.
Now, to be fair, assists aren't the end-all, be-all of winning basketball but it is not a coincidence that the last nine NBA champions finished in the Top-12 in assists. It’s no surprise that the Golden State Warriors being No. 1 in the NBA from 2014-19 saw three titles head to the Bay.
Having a player like rookie guard Josh Giddey, whose brazen passing and daringness to try new things opens up looks few others in the league can, will go a long way in getting the Thunder closer to a winning offense.
OKC still has plenty of time to figure things out, but going forward will need to find a plan to not only create these open looks, but find players who can cash in on them — as the highlight passes only mean so much if the shots don’t go in.
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