Thunderous Intentions
Fansided

Five takeaways from the Thunder’s buzzer-beating loss to Timberwolves

By Tony Heim

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - OCTOBER 22: Russell Westbrook
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - OCTOBER 22: Russell Westbrook /
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OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – OCTOBER 22: Raymond Felton #2 of the OKC Thunder handles the ball during the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on October 22, 2017 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – OCTOBER 22: Raymond Felton #2 of the OKC Thunder handles the ball during the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on October 22, 2017 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Eric Bledsoe isn’t an option for Oklahoma City

Eric Bledsoe rocked the NBA-sphere with five simple words on Sunday afternoon.

Full disclosure: I promptly tweeted this in response.

After watching Raymond Felton’s performance last night I can admit my quick reaction was wrong. Felton dropped 12 points on 5/7 shooting. More importantly Oklahoma City outscored Minnesota by 23 points in Felton’s 18 minutes of play.

Bledsoe is a great basketball player and would be an upgrade over Felton, but that doesn’t mean the Thunder should go after him. There’s a couple reasons for this:

  1. Come the Playoffs Russell Westbrook will play 40 minutes a night. The Thunder don’t need a starting-caliber point guard as their backup, let alone one who wouldn’t fit that well playing next to Russ. Felton played in crunch-time last night because he can effectively space the floor and defend starting point guards. Bledsoe can defend, but his shot is inconsistent at best. When he’s not getting the ball in his hands Bledsoe simply wouldn’t be that effective in the OKC offense.
  2. Oklahoma City is better off using the assets for a forward/center. The Thunder are stacked with wings – even their backup bigs are perimeter-oriented on offense. The best teams are the ones who can throw out multiple lineups on any given night. When Steven Adams isn’t on the court OKC only has one style of play. Using their assets, whoever it may be, for a different player-type makes more sense than doubling down on an athletic point guard.
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