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Oklahoma City Thunder: The Impact Kevin Durant Will Have On Anthony Morrow

ByJoe Atmonavage|
Feb 19, 2015; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Anthony Morrow (2) congratulates Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) after a shot against the Dallas Mavericks during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 19, 2015; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Anthony Morrow (2) congratulates Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) after a shot against the Dallas Mavericks during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Anthony Morrow played 1,806 minutes in his first season with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2014-15, but only shared the court with injured superstar Kevin Durant for 282 of those minutes, according to nbawowy.com.  Now with Durant on track to be healthy for the 2015-16 season, Morrow will get the benefits of playing alongside the former MVP.

Even without Durant missing much of this past season with a variety of foot reasons, Morrow had one of the best seasons of his career. He scored 10.7 points per game in 24.4 minutes while shooting 43.4 percent from beyond the arc. He finished the season a tear–proving he truly is one of the best shooters on the planet.

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His final 23 games of the season went like this: 13.4 points per game on 49.6 percent from three while attempting nearly six per game. Morrow was really good for the Thunder and proved to be their best option at the shooting guard position even with his defensive limitations.

I expect Morrow to be even better in 2015-16 and the return of Durant is why.

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While Morrow is a historic shooter (No, really. He is only one of five guys ever to shoot at least 1,600 threes and make at least 42.5 percent of them. The other four? Kyle Korver, Stephen Curry, Steve Nash and Hubert Davis), he is nowhere close to being a complete offensive player. He cannot create his own shot and relies on others to create initial offense for him.

He made 285 field goals this year and 222 (78 percent) were off an assist. This was problematic with no Durant because Russell Westbrook was often the only player on the court who could create his own shot, but that (hopefully) will not be the case in the 2015-16 season.

Durant has become an elite playmaker over his time in the league. Much of it has to do with the fact he is so gifted as a scorer that defenses load up on him and create open passing lanes, but he also understands defenses better and has slowed down while coming off the pick and roll–allowing him to dissect opposing defenses.

Morrow, who will often be on the weak side of the pick and roll, will happily be the recipient of passes like this.

Durant understands that if Jeremy Lamb‘s guy does not help there, he has Nick Collison on the baseline for a dump off and dunk. If not, he is whipping it to Lamb for an open three. Durant puts so much pressure on a defense to make decisive rotations that it is all about having the personnel to make the shot. Morrow is the best shooter Durant has been teamed up with yet.

Durant’s ability to isolate will also lead to open Morrow looks, even if it is not a direct pass from KD. Look here at this play against the Wizards from one of Durant’s healthy games this year. He attacks left and sucks the whole defense in. He kicks it to Kendrick Perkins who should automatically swing it to Morrow.

However, he doesn’t. But because the defense is so worried about Durant and digs down to the extent they do, Morrow still gets an open three.

Look at the defense when Durant gets by his man:

Screen Shot 2015-06-20 at 4.16.58 PM
Screen Shot 2015-06-20 at 4.16.58 PM
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    • Many people complained about the simplicity of Scott Brooks‘ offense and much of it was warranted, but he had a top offense year after year because Durant and Westbrook shred most defenses. Hell, when Durant and Westbrook were on the court together in 2013-14, Derek Fisher shot 44.2 percent from three, according to nbawowy.com.

    They put guys around them in easy situations to succeed.

    The Thunder offense may be more fluid under new coach Billy Donovan, but they should still look to put Morrow in different spots to make the defense make even tougher decisions. Him on the weakside off a Durant or Westbrook pick and roll is tough to handle, but putting him in the corner with Durant and Westbrook action at the top could be lethal.

    Substitute Sefolosha with Morrow here:

    Jamal Crawford makes the right decison there to leave Sefolosha and run at Durant, but what does the defense do when it is an elite shooter in the corner? The Thunder will take the outcome of whatever the defense decides to do every single time.

    The Thunder will be a top offensive team next year simply because Durant will be back, but do not underestimate how much Morrow will thrive with KD back.

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