OKC Thunder: What Terrance Ferguson will need to work on in year 2

With the draft coming up, we look at what the OKC Thunder’s first round pick from last year, Terrance Ferguson, will have to focus on in his second season.

The Oklahoma City Thunder do not have a first round pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, but last year when they did, they selected Terrance Ferguson with the 21st overall pick. In a talented rookie class, Ferguson did not stand out, as he only averaged 3.1 points per game during the season.

Ferguson has the potential to be great if he can develop. He was a McDonald’s All-American in a class that included Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball and De’Aaron Fox. Potential lottery pick Miles Bridges was also apart of that McDonald’s All-American game.

In high school, Ferguson was ranked 11th in the 2016 ESPN 100, which also had players like Harry Giles (No. 1) and Jayson Tatum (No. 3).

Ferguson decided to skip college and play for the Adelaide 36ers in Australia. Without playing college basketball, he was able to still get drafted in the first round off his potential.

In the NBA, however, it is looking like he will have to improve his game drastically before he is the All-American player that he was in lesser ranks. Ferguson won’t be an All Star after this offseason, but there are some small things he can focus on that can help get him to be the player that can help the team.

Knock down open shots

From the 3-point line, Ferguson only shot 33.3 percent last season. Every made 3-point field goal (41) was assisted. Ferguson took 121 3s. He will have to make more catch-and-shoot threes to be more effective on the court.

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When the scoring margin is less than five points, Ferguson shoots just 33 percent from the 3-point line and 92 percent of his total made shots were assisted. Ferguson cannot stay on the floor when the game matters the most because he is not making his 3s at a high rate.

One good stat to look at was the fact that he played better on the road than at home during the season. That is great for a rookie. He knocked down 43 shots on the road compared to 28 at home. He shot 35.2 percent from 3 on the road compared to 30.6 percent from 3 at home.

Ferguson will have to focus on knocking down his 3s — not only during the course of a game, but down the stretch when it means the most.

Stand out on the defensive end of the floor

Ferguson does not have to guard the best player on the team, but playing good defense always helps you stay on the floor.

If you can prevent the other team from scoring, that can get you involved in a course of game, especially with how teams are making 3s now a days. The Houston Rockets broke the single season record for most 3s made this year.

Players are harder to stay in front of than ever. If Ferguson can start getting noticed for his defensive effort, that could translate to more minutes. He would be able to get more experience and work on his offense while playing more often.

Capitalize on easy opportunities

The best example of when he was able to put all three of these things together was a Jan. 3 game against the Los Angeles Lakers where Ferguson had 24 points and three steals.

He was able to make six 3-pointers and he used his long arms on defense to create on the offensive end and get game-breaking dunks in the game.

This performance has to be a template for Ferguson, because when he is able to just do these simple things he can have great games.

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Knocking down spot-up shots, getting in the passing lanes and just getting those easy dunks (he shot 71 percent at the rim last season) will go a long way for his development.