Oklahoma City Thunder: Grading The Randy Foye Trade
The Oklahoma City Thunder were in need of another piece off the bench to give them a better shot at the juggernauts of the West. Does acquiring Randy Foye count as a job well done?
The Oklahoma City Thunder made their impact in this season’s NBA trade deadline just a couple of hours prior to 3 PM, the time at which the deadline ends. The Thunder were able to work out a deal with the Denver Nuggets that included sending D.J. Augustin, Steve Novak, and two second-round picks to Denver in exchange for veteran guard Randy Foye.
Was this a win for the Thunder?
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It seems to be. Their name was mentioned in many trade rumors to acquire many different players who would qualify as a 3-and-D guy who are coveted around the league. This season, Foye is averaging six points and 2.1 assists in just under 20 minutes per game. His 29 percent success rate from three makes it seems like he doesn’t qualify as a legit threat, but playing on an extremely young and inexperienced Nuggets team had a lot to do with it.
Still, his catch and shoot percentage of 42.9 percent according to NBA.com illustrates his willingness to knock down open opportunities. When his man is 6+ feet from him, he connects on 44.7 percent of his three’s. Both of these statistics are relevant because he will be doing plenty of each with the Thunder as Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook create. The Thunder still have Dion Waiters and Andre Roberson on the roster, but the issue with these two are they get it done on only one end of the floor, which was the reason the Thunder were rumored to look at P.J. Tucker of the Phoenix Suns in a potential trade as well.
Foye’s impact will be felt immediately and especially in the playoffs. Although he only has one year of experience in postseason play, Foye has been around the league for nine years now, so he knows how to be an effective player and leader on the floor.
What about the players the Thunder lost? Won’t losing Augustin have an impact?
The only real player worth mentioning that could be viewed as a potential loss for the Thunder lost in this deal with Augustin. Steve Novak averaged 5.1 minutes per game over the year and a half he was with the Thunder and only appeared in 20 games. Augustin is a seasoned backup point guard that will have a great opportunity in Denver to revitalize his career.
In Oklahoma City, he battled for minutes with Reggie Jackson for the backup spot, and now the Thunder’s first-round pick from the 2015 NBA Draft Cameron Payne is starting to show signs that he can mesh well in that role. Augustin’s minutes dwindled down to 15.1 per game, so his impact was held to little if any at this point with this Thunder squad.
OKC saved $9.8 million in salary and luxury taxes in acquiring Randy Foye from Nuggets.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) February 18, 2016
At the end of the day, the Thunder did what they set out to do before the deadline was over: get a player who can have an impact on both sides of the floor efficiently and can fit well next to the playmaking abilities of Durant and Westbrook. This isn’t a move that puts the Thunder in a guaranteed position to defeat teams like Golden State and San Antonio drastically in the playoffs, but it without a doubt gives them a better chance.