Oklahoma City Thunder: Grading The Offseason
Drafting Cameron Payne and Dakari Johnson
Heading into the 2015 NBA Draft, everyone knew that Cameron Payne was Oklahoma City’s guy. A 6’3″ point guard from Murray State, Payne averaged 20.2 points, 6.0 assists and 1.9 steals per game while shooting 45.6 percent from the field and 37.7 percent from three-point range in his final collegiate season.
With his mix of intelligence, court vision and playmaking, Payne is a promising scorer and facilitator. At only 20 years old, Payne has the potential to be a terrific backup for Russell Westbrook down the road.
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It’s not a perfect pick, since Payne doesn’t have much to offer the Thunder in their title-or-bust campaign. Had Oklahoma City gone that route, they’d probably have been better off with Jerian Grant, a four-year point guard from Notre Dame who’s more NBA-ready. But Payne has a higher ceiling and with D.J. Augustin still around, the Thunder don’t need their new pure point guard to produce right away.
With their second round pick at No. 48, the Thunder selected seven-footer Dakari Johnson from Kentucky. He averaged 7.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per game in five NBA Summer League contests, though he wasn’t much of a rim protector (0.4 per game). As of right now, Johnson has not been signed to a contract.
Grade: A-
Next: Re-Signing Singler