Deonte Burton player review: Revised role should clear path to increased minutes in 2019-20

Deonte Burton’s split his initial season with the OKC Thunder varsity team and  G-League OKC Blue but a commitment to growth this summer could force an increase in his usage next season.

Oh, what could have been. A personal favorite of mine, Deonte Burton never got to shine with the OKC Thunder varsity squad, at least not in a consistent fashion this season. Yet, each time he did hit the court there were positive takeaways and hints of his full toolbox.

Burton played his college ball at Iowa State then went overseas to play with the Wonju Dongbu Promy of South Korea’s Korean Basketball League. He landed with the OKC Thunder this past season beginning as a two-way player. Ultimately his full toolbox impressed enough on the OKC Blue to merit his full contract signing with the Thunder.

My main issue with Burton had nothing to do with the player and more to do with Billy Donovan. Invariably, Burton found a way to contribute whether it was in one minute or ten. As I said, Burton’s toolbox is full of goodies so sometimes it was scoring, others it was facilitating grabbing a key rebound or getting a crucial timely steal.

And often he was the reserve player initiating ball movement. HELLO, this is a big deal on a team who don’t move the ball consistently and whose bench doesn’t produce.

And like clockwork just as Burton found a groove, helped cut a deficit or sparked the on court unit’s offense, Donovan would yank him out of the game. Not because he did something wrong, and not because the reserve unit was struggling but simply because it was time to put someone back in.

There were occasions the team was just starting to come back in a game they were trailing and Burton was part of the unit, and quite frequently a big part of the reason the deficit was cut. Yet, instead of experimenting with rotations and lineups to keep Burton on the court and maybe try using him with some of the starters, Donovan elected to ignore the current situation in favor of sticking to a specific schedule of substitutions and lineups.

This was by far my greatest beef with Donovan and Burton was often his most frequent victim.

Still, I clearly wasn’t the only one on the Deonte Burton train given his 2-way contract was shifted into a varsity contract. Much of this is no doubt due to his G-League success. Or hey, maybe Presti and the brain trust also recognized all the intangibles Burton brought to the team.