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Five biggest needs for the Thunder this offseason

By Casimir Cuffy

Apr 25, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan talks in a pregame press conference before the Oklahoma City Thunder play the Houston Rockets in game five of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 25, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan talks in a pregame press conference before the Oklahoma City Thunder play the Houston Rockets in game five of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oklahoma City Thunder
Feb 28, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; OKC Thunder forward Doug McDermott (25) shoots the ball over Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles (2) during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

Three-point shooters

The Oklahoma City Thunder finished the 2016-2017 regular season with the worst three-point shooting percentage in the entire league at 32.7%.

Let that sink in for a minute. 

Based on this past season and the playoffs, the world now knows that the Thunder need shooters. OKC only has two pure shooters on the roster in Doug McDermott and Alex Abrines. The worse part is that those two shooters are incredibly limited defensively. The two get exposed more often than not on that end of the floor; when their shots are not falling they turn into a liability that simply can’t be played.

OKC has a huge “Three and D” role missing from their roster and that hole is harder to fix than we realize. This Thunder team is full of guys who are good on defense and terrible at shooting or good at shooting and terrible on defense…and Russell Westbrook. There is no in-between, and that’s what OKC needs.

What does Westbrook need?

Westbrook is arguably the best driver of the basketball in the game. He would look even more deadly if he had a few guys who can consistently knock down a three while also not getting exposed on defense.

MUST READ: Player grades from the end of the regular season

It is the model that the Cleveland Cavaliers built around LeBron James and what the Rockets built this past offseason around James Harden. Put Russ on either one of those teams with all those perimeter threats and he would average 13+ assists, easily. This is the offseason to build this team completely around the star and see how it works.

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