Oklahoma City Thunder: Midseason Team Awards
By Jake Fielder
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Rookie of the Year: Semaj Christon
Honorable Mention: Josh Huestis
This feels like punting. Oklahoma City’s rookies, Semaj Christon, Josh Huestis, and Mitch McGary, have logged a total of 7 combined minutes at the professional level for the Thunder. Rather, all of these guys are currently being groomed to fill roles down the line as OKC looks to continue bolstering the team.
When deciding which one of these guys has been the most outstanding, it doesn’t take a long look at the stat sheet to figure it out. Semaj Christon has averaged 17.7 PPG, 5.4 APG, 1.5 SPG, all while shooting 45% from the floor for the Oklahoma City Blue (the Thunder’s D-League Affiliate). Josh Huestis has performed admirably, doing everything Oklahoma City has asked of him (which you can read about here) but his numbers don’t quite stack up. Ultimately, Semaj Christon has been the Blue’s most outstanding young asset.
For those of you that haven’t seen Christon play (which I’m assuming is most of you), he’s a long-bodied point guard, who’s proven to be relatively adept at getting to the rim, along with some quick hands in on-ball defensive situations. He recently dropped 31 points and had 6 assists against the Iowa D-League affilitate…oh, and then he had this throwdown:
It’s unlikely that Christon contributes to the Thunder any time soon but SOMEONE had to get the award. It seems only fair to give it to the rookie putting up the best overall numbers at a position the Thunder may need to fix in the near future.
Next: Thunder Sixth Man of the Year