5. Trust the growth of Terrance Ferguson
In an ideal world, every player would come back after the offseason better than they were the year before, and for most that is the case. Players add new wrinkles to their game, they work to reinforce their strengths and they get rid of their weaknesses.
For some players, growth is easier than others. The longer a player has been in the NBA, the closer he gets to his ceiling. He can focus on getting better, but growth is incremental. Players who make the biggest jump from one season to the next are typically younger and less experienced.
Westbrook, Terrance Ferguson, George, Jerami Grant and Steven Adams project to be the starters for OKC next season barring a massive, unforeseen shakeup. Each of those players has at least four years of experience in the NBA, except one: Ferguson.
At 20 years old and just finishing his second NBA season, Ferguson’s best basketball days appear to be ahead of him. His teammates rave about him and expect big things from him in the future. Presti even included Ferguson’s name when referencing the team’s “core.”
Possibly the biggest hope for Ferguson’s growth is his past. In his second season in the association, he posted career highs in points (6.9 per game), rebounds (1.9 per game), assists (1.0 per game), field goal percentage (42.9 percent) and 3-point percentage (36.6 percent).
| Age | G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | eFG% | FTA | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | 61 | 12 | 12.5 | 1.1 | 2.8 | .414 | 0.7 | 2.0 | .333 | 0.5 | 0.8 | .612 | .533 | 0.2 | .900 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 3.1 |
| 20 | 74 | 74 | 26.1 | 2.5 | 5.8 | .429 | 1.4 | 3.9 | .366 | 1.1 | 1.9 | .560 | .552 | 0.7 | .725 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 6.9 |
| 135 | 86 | 20.0 | 1.9 | 4.4 | .425 | 1.1 | 3.0 | .356 | 0.8 | 1.4 | .574 | .547 | 0.5 | .754 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 5.2 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/5/2019.
If Ferguson can make a jump from his second year to his third, similar to what he did last season, it may be a bigger development than the Thunder making a splashy trade.