OKC Thunder: Why Terrance Ferguson needed NBA Summer League
Terrance Ferguson was unable to play for the OKC Thunder due to FIBA rules. Not playing will hurt his development because he will not get the NBA experience in a setting where it does not count. Now he will have to learn on the fly.
The Oklahoma City Thunder drafted Terrance Ferguson with the 21st overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. It hurt for their first round pick to not be able to play in NBA Summer League this year.
Ferguson decided to not to play NCAA ball and play overseas in Australia for the minor premier Adelaide 36ers, where he averaged 4.6 points a game. Ferguson needs more development to play in the NBA, but he had to miss the Summer League which is big.
Players that come from overseas to play in the NBA have to get a letter from the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) to be cleared to play for the league. Ferguson hasn’t received his yet, and that has caused him to miss the Summer League.
Ferguson missed things like shooting the NBA three, learning the Thunder’s sets, and learning how physical the NBA is. All these things could have been picked up from playing in Summer League.
It would have given him an ability make mistakes without hurting the Thunder’s regular season success. It was valuable practice that was missed and there is still no timetable for him to get cleared, so there is no telling when he will be able to play for the Thunder.
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The Thunder wanted to get him out there and play but these rules have caused a big problem in getting him on the court. The Thunder had him on the official Summer League roster so they were expecting him to play but it didn’t work out that way this year.
To help ease his way into the NBA and with limited space in the Thunder’s rotation, Ferguson may be relocated to the Oklahoma City Blue, which is the Thunder’s G-League affiliate.
That option maybe the best route for Ferguson because he will then not be rushed into playing in the NBA.
Basketball is the eighth-toughest sport to play in the world, according to Bleacher Report, and the NBA is no doubt the best basketball league in the world so just jumping into NBA action would be a tall task for anybody.
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The National Basketball League (NBL), which is the professional league Ferguson played for in Australia, is ranked the 10th best league outside the NBA by ESPN‘s Fran Fraschilla so he has played against good competition in his early professional career. The NBA is a different beast to conquer though and Ferguson will do better getting some kind of NBA experience like the G-League before he starts his NBA career.