Film Festival Series: Domantas Sabonis

Feb 3, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Domantas Sabonis (3) warms up prior to game against the Memphis Grizzlies at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 3, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Domantas Sabonis (3) warms up prior to game against the Memphis Grizzlies at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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Domantas Sabonis
Mar 7, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Domantas Sabonis (3) drives to the basket in front of Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic (27) during the first quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

Back to the bench for Domantas Sabonis:

Sam Presti has built the Thunder such that if it was a planetary system, Westbrook was the sun, and every other piece just needed to know how to feed off his gravitational pull.

The Taj Gibson trade was the trigger point, but I see Sabonis’ benching as part of Donovan’s solution to Domantas Sabonis’ length problem.

If there was any one point of clarity that had come out of Sabonis’ season so far, it was that he needed more time to carve a niche out for himself. Sam Presti has built the Thunder such that if it was a planetary system, Westbrook was the sun, and every other piece just needed to know how to feed off his gravitational pull. For Sabonis, the moment his early shooting form faded, he could no longer fit into the starting line-up without disrupting Westbrook’s own revolution.

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As Sabonis moved to the bench, he started to thrive in his increased offensive role. No longer did he have to hover around the basket waiting for dump-offs, yet worried that he might screw up the spacing as he took away Andre Roberson’s space to cut.

With the bench unit, Sabonis could now drive and look for hand-offs and cutters, without the defense sagging off. His patience in moving the ball around eventually earns him a wide open bucket.

On defense, Sabonis also showed signs of understanding the overall defensive scheme better. Here, the entire defense follows Kawhi Leonard’s gravity to the left side of the court. Sabonis decisively switches and prevents further penetration such that Leonard has to kick the ball out. Manu Ginobili makes the shot, but it is still good defense from Sabonis.

Moving to the bench clearly doesn’t solve everything. But at least it gives Sabonis more space to figure out his offensive game, and become a better leader on defense.