Revisiting OKC Thunder 2016-17 roster

With several players on their way out it seems like an appropriate time to revisit the OKC Thunder 2016-17 squad in it’s entirety.

Sure the OKC Thunder just received a huge boost with the addition of Paul George and fans are excited for what this means heading into next season. At the same time the roster who managed to make the playoffs in spite of pundits belief that would be stretch are now simply a part of history.

With Victor Oladipo, Domantas Sabonis and news today Taj Gibson are all headed for new teams the roster will look substantially different next season. Certainly the new version will have several new players suiting up. Obviously, the most exciting addition is Paul George and to a lesser extent what rookie Terrance Ferguson can bring is intriguing.

Who the other additions will be won’t be known until OKC hits training camp (or over the course of free agency).

In the interim as we wish Oladipo, Sabonis and Gibson well, let’s look back at their accomplishments this past season.

To that end, here are the season reviews of the OKC Thunder team.

The MVP:

Russell Westbrook:

Russell Westbrook – Epic season in review

"For every awe-inspiring game winning performance there was a mind-numbing outrageous decision. For every breathless transition attack where Russ made the other nine players look like they were in slow motion, there was a horrendous pull-up contested brick of a three-pointer.In every sense of the word, Russell Westbrook is a basketball enigma. Every time we, as a collective, feel we have peeled away a layer into further understanding who (or what, because he may be an alien, a robot, a cyborg, or all three), Russell Westbrook is, four more layers pop up.He’s been the most debated player in the NBA this season, bar none. For every undyingly-loyal fan (and shout out to all of you), there’s a detractor, who’s doing whatever they can to diminish the amazing accomplishment that was the 2016-17 Russell Westbrook season."

Thanks for the memories:

Taj Gibson:

Taj Gibson Season Review – The Glue Guy

"Part of the Tom Thibodeau regime, Gibson was a victim of timing. Initially he ranked behind Carlos Boozer. This due to Boozer and Rose’s ability to drive teams insane with the perfect pick and roll. For most of his tenure the Bulls squad also featured Joakim Noah who (still healthy regularly led his team in assists and triple-doubles. Yet, it was the ever reliable Gibson who Thibs trusted in late game situations.Oft cited as a player who was patiently waiting his turn to ascend to a bigger role Gibson endured coaching changes, roster shuffles and strategy shifts. He did it all with nary a complaint or public outing of his displeasure. For as often as Gibson was noted as potential trade bait, as long as Thibs was at the helm Taj wasn’t going anywhere."

Victor Oladipo:

Victor Oladipo, season in review – Polarizing, yet satisfying

Since his Orlando days, his per game averages are up, but barely. His volume went up, predictably. After all, the Magic were considering moving him to the bench, whereas the Thunder entrust secondary ball-handling duties to him.

His free-throw percentage dipped, but overall, his shooting, particularly from long-range improved. Considering the uptick in volume, this upward movement is fairly impressive.

Victor Oladipo’s advanced stats, however, paint a more depressing picture. His win shares and box dropped off quite significantly. Despite being on a better team, the metrics show Oladipo deteriorating as a player. Some metrics, like Value Over Replacement Player (VORP), even suggest this season was Oladipo’s worst season — worse than even his rookie season.

Domantas Sabonis:

Domantas Sabonis season in review – Rookie makes his mark

"Domantas didn’t have the best rookie stat line by any means. He was streaky from time to time and couldn’t seem to find any confidence at first. This being said, he did have stats that showed some good potential. For instance, he is the only other player, along with Russell Westbrook, who played in 81 games this season. Not only does this help his future with actual on court playing time, but will prove useful with the coaching staff to provide examples for him in the film room. The amount of time Billy Donovan committed to the youngster should add to confidence level. It is little things like this that make a good prospect, into a great player."

Existing Roster:

Alex Abrines:

Alex Abrines – the best sideburns in the business

"Judging Alex Abrines as a rookie comes with asterisks. As a 23-year old international player Abrines played five professional seasons before coming to the NBA, giving him an idea of what to expect off the court. That doesn’t mean it was the smoothest rookie season though.Abrines’ minutes fluctuated as a byproduct of Billy Donovan’s rotation experiments from the beginning of the season. His first ten game logs read 13, 0, 2, 8, 19, 17, 17, 5, 13, 19 – he appeared in 68 games despite only missing five games with injury.That instability led to the Spaniard starting the season off ice cold. Abrines shot 25.6% from three in the first full month of the season; after settling into the NBA three-point line he shot over 41% in four of the last five months of the season."

Steven Adams:

Steven Adams: The Big Kiwi

"Offensively, it was especially apparent that Adams had done his homework last summer. His free throw percentage increased to a career high of 61%, and his field goal percentage remained consistent at 57%. With a brand new hook shot (an ambidextrous one, at that) and an expanded arsenal of floating moves, Adams became a threat on the scoring end of the court.Furthermore, in the shadow of Russell Westbrook‘s 190,000 triple-doubles, Adams earned16 admirable double-double finishes."

Semaj Christon:

Semaj Christon 2016-17 season review – The trivia answer

"With Russell Westbrook in full on beastmode, none of his OKC Thunder teammates could hit a shot. After several wide open misses, Westbrook passed the ball to Christon who promptly buried his corner three. The resulting effect cemented Westbrook’s name in NBA history annuls and simultaneously inked Christon as the answer to a trivia question."

Jerami Grant:

Reviewing Jerami Grant’s first season in Oklahoma City

"Jerami Grant’s first season in Oklahoma City was a success. Grant didn’t carve out a concrete role in the rotation, nor did he prove that he can be a successful small forward in the NBA. But what he did do is show how a 6’9 physical specimen can be both an elite rim protector and a floor spacer on the other end.Grant’s statistics this season don’t tell the story when it comes to the 23-year old. In his 80 appearances for the Thunder he only played 19 minutes a game. The former 76er averaged a mere four shots a game – over half were attempted without taking a dribble. But when you watch the film, Grant checks off every box you want to see out of a stretch forward."

Josh Huestis:

Josh Huestis – the D-League Mainstay

"There isn’t much to talk about when it comes to Josh Huestis’ second NBA season. The 25-year old (yikes) only appeared in two games this year, three less than his rookie season while also recording 24 less minutes. But Huestis’ season could be considered a slight success.Oklahoma City drafted Huestis in 2014 with the hope that he would turn into a solid 3 and D win player. His development has been slower than the Thunder would hope, but a quick look at Huestis’ D-League statistics shows the former Stanford forward took a huge leap this season."

Enes Kanter:

More from Thunderous Intentions

Enes Kanter – Russ’ biggest cheerleader

"Kanter did miss 10 games because of pure stupidity, and this served as the turning point in his season. He only eclipsed 20 points on three occasions after returning from his injury; Kanter failed to earn more than 15 points in half his games after returning.This Thunder team is a team that lacks scorers and shot makers. Besides Victor Oladipo (who missed some time because of injury himself) they had no one besides Kanter they could run the offense through.Kanter was handed the keys to the second unit from the start and performed admirably before his injury. The 24-year old was even in the discussion for the sixth man of the year award. After he returned, the numbers were there on some occasions, but the rhythm clearly wasn’t."

Doug McDermott:

Doug McDermott Season Review – Untapped Ceiling

"To say Doug McDermott began his NBA career with a splash is an understatement. Denver drafted the Creighton forward and National Player of the Year in the 11th lottery spot. But, before the Nuggets’ snap cap could flatten the forward’s hair he was on his way to Chicago.The Bulls wanted McDermott badly and were willing to pay dearly. Chicago gave up both their first round picks (Jusuf Nurkic at 16 and Gary Harris at 19) as well as a second round 2015 pick to nab the forward. Clearly the Bulls who have a history of stock piling wings were high on Dougie McBuckets."

Kyle Singler:

Kyle Singler Season Review – The Bench Warmer

"During the Eastern Conference Finals when Jonas Jerebko became a factor for Boston it clicked me back to the Pistons. While with the Detroit, Singler played in every game his first two seasons and averaged 28 minutes per game. So, what was it Lawrence Frank and Mo Cheeks saw in Singler the Thunder are missing? Was it simply a matter of those Pistons teams being so bad it afforded Singler more minutes? Or did he reach his threshold without room for improvement?"

Remaining Free Agents:

Andre Roberson:

Andre Roberson- the defensive master

"Has there been a more polarizing figure in Thunder history than the All-Defensive team candidate? Kendrick Perkins? Thabo Sefolosha? Maybe. But neither saw such a drastic shift in status and public perception in such a short time.At the start of the 2016-17 campaign – from the outside looking in – Roberson was an afterthought. A “by default” starter on the wing in the aftermath of the Kevin Durant departure. Russell Westbrook was expected to handle the bulk of the production, with Victor Oladipo and Steven Adams making significant leaps in their fourth years."

Nick Collison:

Nick Collison – the reliable vet

"It wasn’t about on-court impact for Collison. He’s not a selfish guy who cares about highlights and numbers. He just wants to make the team better. And the OKC Thunder were a team with plenty of big men. Prior to the season, they had Steven Adams, Enes Kanter, Domantas Sabonis, and Ersan Ilyasova The latter (Ilyasova) was then traded for Jerami Grant, who mainly played at power forward, and then the team acquired Taj Gibson. That’s a lot of big men, most of whom were under the age of 25.How did they get so good? It’s because they listened to ‘Father’ Nick. Any improvement you saw out of Adams, Kanter, Sabonis, or any other big man was due to the advice of Collison. And if any player took a step back, it’s because they didn’t listen to Nick Collison. I’m 100 percent certain that Collison told Enes Kanter, “don’t punch that chair.” But Kanter didn’t listen. We all saw the end result."

Norris Cole:

Norris Cole Season Review – Odd man out

"The big question — was Cole just in the right place at the right time or did he bring value to those Miami Heat Title squads. With LeBron James headed back to his seventh consecutive NBA Finals there is definite legs to the argument the King makes everyone around him better. Therefore, it’s conceivable to suggest Norris Cole falls in that territory. But, the reality is Cole spent most of his time on the floor while the King rested."

The staff at Thunderous Intentions wish Victor, Domas and Taj well in their new endeavors. Thank you for an exciting season and know you’ve left OKC Thunder fans and TI scribes with fond memories aplenty. As for the other 9 players plus 3 free agents still technically on the 2017-18 roster here’s hoping the arrival of Paul George has inspired their offseason workout sessions.

Home/Thunder News