“Checking into the game for your Oklahoma City Thunder, No. 6, Derek Fisher!”
This is a sentence that Thunder public address announcer Mario Nanni used far too often late in games — playoff games — since Fisher joined the team in March 2012. Thunder fans didn’t hold this against Fisher, and of course never had a negative thought towards the messenger, Nanni — it was all directed at Thunder head coach Scott Brooks.
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The Thunder and Brooks have always valued veteran leadership. It has undoubtedly expedited the maturation process of its young core, provided a sense of stability for a blooming epicenter, and been something two budding megastars,
Kevin Durantand
Russell Westbrook, could lean on during the growing pains along the way.
Unfortunately Brooks has had notoriously long leashes with veterans. Fisher, Thabo Sefolosha and most recently Caron Butler are prime examples of players opposing coaches couldn’t believe were on the floor in a playoff series. That all stems back to the trust and security Brooks has in guys with experience.
So with Fisher gone — now making $1 million more than Brooks to coach the New York Knicks — Butler now in Detroit, and Thabo in Atlanta, who has earned Scott Brooks’ trust, and who still needs to?
The rotation is the biggest storyline heading into the 2014-15 season for Oklahoma City, so lets look at a few lineup options for Brooks and the Thunder.
Who Starts?
Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka, and Kendrick Perkins are the four mainstays in this starting unit, but with Thabo Sefolosha now in Atlanta, the starting shooting guard position is open for discussion and the Thunder have options.
Here they are ranked from best to worst:
- Anthony Morrow — Morrow is quite simply one of the best shooters on planet Earth. His ability to space the floor with the outside shot gives this offense a dynamic it has long needed — a dynamic the San Antonio Spurs used to obliterate the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. Morrow would be a downgrade on the defensive end, but a massive upgrade on the offensive end. Defenses will have two options — either stay attached to Morrow and let Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook get all the way to the basket, or provide help defense on Durant or Westbrook and give Morrow a wide open look from a spot where he shot 46 percent last season. This is an absolutely lethal option and one that I think would best serve this team’s best players.
- Jeremy Lamb — 2013-14 was an up and down year from the former Connecticut Husky, and I get the feeling the organization’s patience with Jeremy is running thin. Lamb was relied on to provide productive minutes when Russell Westbrook went down and showed the kind of scorer he can be when he has his confidence. Unfortunately Lamb’s minutes evaporated with the signing of veteran Caron Butler as did his confidence. Lamb will most likely return to the bench role he was in pre-Butler and will be relied on as a spark scorer alongside Reggie Jackson. If Lamb is going to breakout it needs to be this year.
- Reggie Jackson — Reggie is without a doubt the best player of these options — he’s the fourth-best player on this team — but a staple of this organization is having a “super sub” and Jackson is that guy. Starting Jackson would take its toll on the bench as Sebastian Telfair would be the backup PG, and well … oof. Reggie is involved in a lot of late-game lineups as he should be, but having him as your sixth man means a deeper and more potent rotation and more rest for Durant and Westbrook during stretches of games.
- Andre Roberson — Thabo 2.0 or a poor man’s Shawn Marion is how Andre Roberson’s ceiling has been described. If Brooks wants a similar look to the starting lineup he’s used for much of his time with the Thunder then Roberson is the guy. The problem with this is the same problem Oklahoma City had with Thabo — playing 3-on-5 offensively. In Thabo’s best year (2011-12) he shot 43 percent from 3-point range. Forty-three percent! By the end of Thabo’s time in Oklahoma City however, that percentage was down to 31 and Brooks could hardly keep him on the floor. Which brings us back to Roberson, who’s offensive game is limited to stay the least. If you’re a wing player that can’t score, you better affect the game profoundly in other areas, and I don’t know if Roberson is that good of a defender yet. However, Durant loves him so keep an eye on him throughout training camp.
- Perry Jones III — Humor me. Brooks, like clockwork, brings in Jackson and Collison at 4:30 mark in the first quarter, so why not put your five best athletes on the floor to start the game and go from there? Here’s the idea: Westbrook, Perry Jones III, KD, Ibaka, Steven Adams. That’s a lineup of 6’3, 6’11, 6’10, 6’10, 7’0. Fun, right? This isn’t going to happen, but Brooks should take the first month of the season and experiment … with this.
Let’s presume Brooks goes with Morrow as the starting shooting guard. That means you have Westbrook-Morrow-Durant-Ibaka-Perkins. Solid all the way around. Everyone knows their role, there’s plenty of rim protection and most importantly it features Kevin Durant.
That leaves Jackson-Lamb-Jones-Collison-Adams as your bench with Roberson-McGary-Telfair-Jerrett as your reserves.
With Fisher, Butler, and Sefolosha now gone it forces Brooks to give max minutes to the team’s best players. Pretty cool concept right?
Given those players let’s look at some other intriguing lineups that will get some run in 2014-15:
BIG
Russell Westbrook-Anthony Morrow-Kevin Durant-Serge Ibaka-Steven Adams
Russell Westbrook-Reggie Jackson-Kevin Durant-Nick Collison-Steven Adams
Russell Westbrook-Jeremy Lamb-Kevin Durant-Nick Collison-Serge Ibaka
SMALL
Russell Westbrook-Reggie Jackson-Anthony Morrow-Kevin Durant-Serge Ibaka (woah)
Reggie Jackson-Jeremy Lamb-Perry Jones-Kevin Durant-Steven Adams
Russell Westbrook-Jeremy Lamb-Anthony Morrow-Kevin Durant-Serge Ibaka
CRUNCH TIME
Russell Westbrook-Reggie Jackson-Anthony Morrow-Kevin Durant-Serge Ibaka
Russell Westbrook-Reggie Jackson-Kevin Durant-Serge Ibaka-Steven Adams
The Final Step
If 22-year old Durant could’ve asked 25-year old Durant how to handle the 2012 Finals, the result would’ve looked a lot different than a 4-1 Miami victory. Unfortunately for Durant, that’s not how sports work. You don’t get to consult future you. You have to become that player first.
Durant is entering his eighth season, and Westbrook his seventh. These two have been tested in every sense of the word at every level in the sport. Playoff losses, playoff wins, Finals loss, injuries, trades, headlines, free agency. It’s all happened for Durant and Westbrook before the age of 25.
Now, looked upon as two of the top players in the world and undisputed leaders of this team it will be these experiences that they draw upon to guide this group forward — just as a player like Derek Fisher did for them.