OKC Thunder youngster Deonte Burton played limited minutes versus the Dallas Mavericks and continued to present a case for increasing his playing time.
Memo to OKC Thunder Head Coach, Billy Donovan — Free Deonte Burton!
Yeah, yeah, I know this is a common refrain of yours truly, but it’s simple — every minute Burton is on the floor positive things happen. Whether he is trying to shift momentum via a timely bucket or hustling on defense Deonte Burton is the glue guy every team seeks for their roster.
Review any OKC Thunder game film and you’ll notice Burton always finds the seams and openings on the court. It’s not a coincidence every time he plays he is wide open at least once in the game. That speaks to his attention to detail and buy in to the team concept of ball and player movement. So, on a night when many of the youngsters weren’t dialed in to team play the play of Burton was one of the few positive takeaways.
Although the Nevada alum played a meager 13:00 minutes in the loss he didn’t waste a single second on court. In fact, outside of Danilo Gallinari and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the best moments came from Burton.
In this film session T.I. points out some examples as evidence for Billy Donovan and reasons why the guard needs to get more playing time once the season begins in earnest.
Reading the play:
Burton has a high I.Q. and reads the situation on the court. Too often in this particular game, the players were caught standing in place or ball watching.
In the following play Burton sees Noel move toward the basket and takes a few steps toward Schroder to present him with an easy target to pass to. Once he has the ball knowing Noel is occupying people in the paint he uses him as a shield and drives for the easy basket.
Creating space for teammates:
Although this play doesn’t end in a bucket Burton does what is necessary to help his court mate. While the other OKC Thunder players on the court are standing in place Burton recognizes Noel has Mavs collapsing on him so he cuts behind Noel pulling his defender with him.
If Noel doesn’t fumble the ball he would have an easy opening to score now that Burton opened up the paint.
Puts teammates in the best situation:
In the next clip, it highlights several things Burton (and his teammates) does well. With the team grabbing the rebound Burton takes off down the wing to present a target for Gilgeous-Alexander to hit with a lead pass. Because of his speed and the knowledge of his ability to drive and dunk Burton pulls Luka Doncic and to him and another Maverick who cheats off his man.
This leaves the rookie Darius Bazley wide open at the top of the arc. Since Burton is cut off by Luka he doesn’t force the drive — instead, he turns to deliver the pass to Bazley who hits the wide-open 3pointer.
Finds the open seams:
Finally, as mentioned in the post-game review too many of the youngsters were caught ball watching and stuck in place in the loss. But Deonte was the one constant who continued to move and pass the ball.
It’s not a coincidence we find Burton wide open at least once every game. Rather, it is his commitment to the new offensive principles of ball and player movement.
In the above film clip, Burton knows two Mavericks are trailing the play and because the player in the paint has to come out to cover Bazley at the top of the arc it provides him with a wide open uncontested path to the rim for a dunk.
Much of this season will be focused on growth and development. As such, Billy Donovan needs to play the youngsters with a view to isolating players who should be part of future OKC Thunder teams.
Deonte Burton is one player who works well with anyone he is put on the hardwood with and so far in his limited preseason minutes has earned a right to get dedicated consistent minutes.
Come on Billy D — it’s time you free Deonte Burton and allow him to help his teammates build for the future.