Thunderous Intentions
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Matt’s Monday Musings – In growth we trust

By Matthew Hallett

Jan 26, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Dorian Finney-Smith (10) drives to the basket against Oklahoma City Thunder forward Domantas Sabonis (3) and Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams (12) during the first quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 26, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Dorian Finney-Smith (10) drives to the basket against Oklahoma City Thunder forward Domantas Sabonis (3) and Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams (12) during the first quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 9, 2017; Chicago, IL, USA; OKC Thunder forward Domantas Sabonis (3) and center Steven Adams (12) celebrate during the first quarter of the game against the Chicago Bulls at United Center. Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 9, 2017; Chicago, IL, USA; OKC Thunder forward Domantas Sabonis (3) and center Steven Adams (12) celebrate during the first quarter of the game against the Chicago Bulls at United Center. Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports /

Domantas Sabonis

The first thing that struck me about Domantas Sabonis was his attitude. There has been a lot made of Sabonis shooting threes in the NBA because he only took 14 attempts in 74 games in college.

Billy Donovan asked Sabonis to be a totally different basketball player than he had been his entire career, even though he was now in the hardest league in the world. What did Sabonis do? He did what he was asked, obviously working hard on the skill to help the Thunder improve.

MUST READ: How Sam Presti can build a contender this offseason

Now, when Gibson arrived to Oklahoma City via trade, Sabonis went to the bench. He had been struggling to climb the rookie wall prior to this trade, shooting very poorly in January from deep. He was still bringing tremendous energy to the floor but was not able provide a direct impact on the scoreboard.

How did Sabonis respond to being benched? With huge energy when he came onto the court. Can anyone forget the San Antonio Spurs game?

The offseason

I am of the opinion that the growth of Sabonis over the offseason will be enough to push the OKC Thunder into the second round of the Playoffs next year. I want to see Gibson re-signed. Apart from the fact that I love Taj, this gives Sabonis the opportunity to come off the bench next year and fill the Enes Kanter role (assuming he’s traded).

Sabonis will continue to shoot from outside and he will improve on his 32.1 percent from range. However, Domas also will continue to work on his inside game; we’ll see him average much more than his 5.9 points per game from this year. Sabonis’ underrated great passing game will bud next season as he becomes more comfortable with the fast-paced NBA game.

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