Josh Huestis has played five games for Oklahoma City and has sent Twitter into meltdown each time he has played. Should he receive playing time next year?
Oklahoma City fans have been spoiled by Kevin Durant, the supposed 6-foot-9 forward who can handle the ball like a Globe Trotter, take it to the rim with ferocity and still have a delicate touch from outside (and fights crime, too). But seriously, I have watched the progression of LeBron James, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard but none of them come close to watching the magnificence that is Durant.
Unfortunately for OKC fans, Durant is only human and has to come off the court sometimes. One of the replacements in games is Kyle Singler, kind of the anti-Durant, if you will. Singler had a great shot in college and it was still pretty good in his first two seasons with Detroit. Then he came to OKC and his shot stayed in Detroit. All year, fans of the Thunder have been using Singler and his woes to attack Billy Donovan, some have even suggested Donovan should not be coaching the team.
Towards the end of the season a guy by the name of Josh Huestis has played five games for the Thunder, going 4-6 from 3 as well as dunking and blocking shots, all the cool stuff we all want to do and see. Each time he has played, my Twitter feed has gone into meltdown, Huestis this and Huestis that, mainly calling for Huestis to come off the bench behind Durant rather than Singler.
I do not think that this is a good idea, not because I don’t want to see more of what he brings to the Thunder, but because I have been listening and reading every Donovan interview that I can get my hands on and I think I can see the mind of the coach. The simple reason is defense. The thing that Championship runs are usually based on.
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Defense. Donovan likes Singler’s defense, pure and simple. True to form, Donovan is rewarding his players who defend better. Andre Roberson starts, Dion Waiters gets big minutes and he has turned his defense into his offense. Anthony Morrow struggles to get minutes, can shoot but is no good on defense. The only exception to this rule is Enes Kanter but the second unit is lost without his offense.
To put it simply, Huestis has to up his defensive game if he wants more time on court with the Thunder. Donovan has been gifted an offensive juggernaut in OKC. Unfortunately, there are a couple of teams higher up the standings who are as good or better offensively and both are better defensively.
For OKC to keep up they have to stop other teams from scoring. At the moment Donovan sees Singler as the better option. To win a championship you have to take educated risks. Huestis is so raw that there is no possible way for a guess to be educated. He has started his NBA career, but to this date has only played Utah, Detroit, Portland, the Lakers and the Spurs, getting significant game time in the Detroit and Portland losses.
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Donovan is looking, he is testing and hoping that players like Huestis, Mitch McGary and Cameron Payne develop into really good players, but as he is in charge of a team with a win it all now mentality as there is a certain free agency pending, Donovan has to believe in the players that have taken OKC to the third seed in the West and blooding these players when it suits the team.
I strongly believe that Huestomania is coming to OKC, I really hope it is. Huestis is a highlight reel waiting to happen. Unfortunately, that time is not yet.