Thunderous Intentions
Fansided

5 reason’s why OKC Thunder RPM projections fall short

By Lawrence George

LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 9: Head Coach Billy Donovan of the the Oklahoma City Thunder looks on during the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League on July 9, 2018 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 9: Head Coach Billy Donovan of the the Oklahoma City Thunder looks on during the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League on July 9, 2018 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 7
Next
OKC Thunder guard Dennis Schroder
26 June 2018, Braunschweig, Germany: National player Dennis Schroeder during a training session of the German basketball national team. Germany is playing against Austria on the 29th of June 2018 for the World Cup Qualification. Photo: Swen Pförtner/dpa (Photo by Swen Pförtner/picture alliance via Getty Images) /

Addition by Subtraction

Its curious that Pelton predicts Schroder and Noel’s impact on the second unit is so minimal considering Oklahoma City ranked near the bottom in almost every statistical category.

More from Thunderous Intentions

Here’s OKC’s second unit last season:

PG: Raymond Felton
SG: Alex Abrines, Josh Huestis
SF: Terrance Ferguson, Kyle Singler
PF: Jerami Grant
C: Patrick Patterson, Dakari Johnson

Its difficult to envision a second unit worse than last season’s unless you look at OKC’s 2015-16 bench mob which was an abomination on all levels (sorry Semaj Christon).

Removing the minutes allocated to Huestis automatically increases OKC’s ceiling. While he was a strong net positive on the defensive end (plus +6.5), he couldn’t hit a shot from the floor. Johnson and Singler barely played while Ferguson replaced Abrines as the designated foul machine. Abrines was painfully consistent while Patterson was horrible when deployed at center.

The Schroder Effect

Schroder has been the starting point-guard for the Atlanta Hawks, a club whose actively rebuilding and tanking for high draft picks. Despite setting a career high in points per game (19.4), his minus -6.6 is concerning. However, the Hawks were 21st in defensive efficiency (108.2) and 24th in points allowed (108.8).

While I understand Pelton’s projections are based on RPM, Schroder’s impact on the second unit is underrated using his model. In the 2015-16 season for Atlanta, the German averaged 20.1 minutes per game off the bench and produced a plus +7.8 net rating. That season, the Hawks finished sixth in points allowed (99.4), 12th in points per game (102.5) and were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.

Its hard to believe Schroder isn’t an upgrade over Felton as the second unit’s floor general. With a game that is remarkably similar to Russ, his ability to get to the hole and create his own shot when the offense stalls is huge. Oklahoma City lacked a legitimate play-maker when Russ sat and adding Schroder improves the bench exponentially.

Here’s Schroder’s highlights from last season.

Next, the other addition which affects the OKC Thunder.

Home/Thunder News