Thunderous Thoughts: The Russell Westbrook Narrative
Welcome to Thunderous Thoughts, your weekly look at the OKC Thunder. This week I want you to not read the column and tweet me that it’s bad. Thank you.
Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis are ballin’ in Indiana. Oladipo is averaging 23.9 points while Sabonis is averaging 12.9 points and 11 rebounds on 67 percent shooting. People are now saying that the Pacers won the trade and that Russell Westbrook was holding back Oladipo and Sabonis.
In the words of Michael Jordan, “Stop it.”
The pre-determined narrative that “Westbrook can’t play with others” based on the Thunder not winning a title and Kevin Durant leaving for Golden State is already tired.
Oladipo underperformed last year in a role that he wasn’t ready for. He was brought in to be the scorer off the bench for the Westbrook-Durant duo. Durant left, putting Oladipo in a starting role. Oladipo’s shooting numbers were up from his time in Orlando and his scoring average was .1 worse. He didn’t have a bad offensive season. He just didn’t have the kind of offensive season that you would want the number 2 guard on a playoff team to have.
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Blaming Westbrook for “holding him back” does take into the account that Oladipo faltered on his own. His playoff numbers were abysmal, and when Billy Donovan left him to run the second-unit to stop Houston from mounting a comeback with Westbrook on the bench, they still mounted a comeback.
Oladipo is also showing a more aggressive side in Indiana. He’s attacking the basket instead of settling for a mid-range shot. With a player the caliber of Westbrook no longer beside him, Oladipo has seen his usage increase. That increase has naturally led to his scoring going up.
A lot of this should be credited to Oladipo, who got himself in great shape during the offseason and came into Indiana with something to prove.
I buy an argument that Oladipo was misused last season and should have been given more ball handling responsibilities. But that’s on the coach, not Westbrook. And it’s also on Oladipo for underperforming when he was given those responsibilities.
Sabonis’ hot start is similar to explain. He was put in a position that he wasn’t ready for and faltered. Sabonis was a long term project being groomed to take over for Enes Kanter’s departure. When Sam Presti traded Ersan Ilyasova in order to get younger and more athletic, Sabonis became the starting power forward.
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Using him as a stretch didn’t work. Posting him up worked to an extent, but he was still an undersized rookie who could only go left. His rebounding left a lot to be desired and his defense was non-existent. In Indiana, he looks more confident, which typically comes with experience. OKC could have done better to use him in the pick-and-roll, but the Westbrook-Adams and Westbrook-Kanter connections were more polished.
Here’s the easiest way to explain why Oladipo and Sabonis are playing this well in Indiana: they’re young and improved (and you have to give some credit to the Thunder organization and Westbrook for giving them tools to succeed throughout last year and into the offseason). More importantly they’re in a situation where there is less pressure.
This is really about the Westbrook narrative. No one says, “LeBron James is holding Kevin Love back” because Love’s numbers are way down from his time in Minnesota. National media members, after one game, said, “We’re going to rip Oklahoma City and Westbrook when they lose to the Warriors and we’re gonna say, ‘Westbrook did a bad job of finding his teammates.’”
And if Oladipo and Sabonis weren’t playing well, people would focus on George’s numbers being down from his time in Indiana.
Nobody won the Paul George trade after seven games. We may not know who won the trade for years. But don’t let logic get in the way of a pre-written hot take.
Other Thunder Thoughts
*Tony Heim was on the Jerami Grant bandwagon from day one and he’s now sharing his space with thousands of others. Grant has shown improvement in all areas offensively. He looks confident when dribbling, he’s reading defenses better, he’s attacking in a controlled manner. His shooting form still looks like someone without a single athletic bone in their body. That’s fine as long as he makes them. He could be a big rotation piece by the end of the year.
Related Story: Tony Heim’s recap of Jerami Grant’s 2016-2017 season
*Patrick Patterson is slowly rounding into form, which is a scary thought.
*Everyone lied to us about Carmelo Anthony’s defense. I’m sure 90 percent of it is just that he’s more engaged than he was in New York and the other 10 percent is the switch everything scheme, but he’s been nowhere near the liability everyone said he would be. Even on the second unit, where he has to carry the offensive load, he’s active and disrupting things.
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*Speaking of the second unit, I actually texted my friend during the Milwaukee game, “They just gotta keep it close until the Melo unit is on the court. They’ll put it away.” Is it weird to have so much confidence in the bench? It definitely is for Thunder fans after last season.
Carmelo Anthony averaged 20+ points his entire career as the number one option against the other teams best defender. Now he plays stretches as the number one option against the other teams bench. Only one other team has that luxury.
*Raymond Felton isn’t going to shoot 55 percent from three all season, but he won’t get dumber. He makes the right play and puts the ball in the perfect spot for guys. It’s an underrated thing, but he’s great at just throwing an entry pass to Melo.
*Billy Donovan seems to have his rotations and lineups set, which does a lot for chemistry. I’m sure he’ll try different things throughout the season depending on the situation, but the starting unit, the Melo unit, and the OG unit (Westbrook and Adams with shooters) are three staples that I don’t see changing anytime soon.