OKC Thunder project Justin Patton was assigned to their G-League affiliate OKC Blue to get more playing time.
When teams sign a young big man, most of them expect they will take time to develop. This is especially true for OKC Thunder project Justin Patton. The third-year big man out of Creighton, originally drafted with the 16th pick in the 2017 NBA draft has only seen six minutes of action with the Thunder in one game.
In that time he shot the ball twice, including a 3-point attempt, but missed both attempts. Patton did collect two rebounds but also committed three fouls and a turnover. This was during garbage time in a blowout win so it is difficult to judge the performance.
However, what is telling is that Coach Billy Donovan did not use Patton when starting big man Steven Adams was out with his knee contusion. Donovan preferred to go with Mike Muscala as the back up to Nerlens Noel.
#WeAreThunder: Justin Patton Assigned to Oklahoma City Bluehttps://t.co/t5Ep6t2cLe
— Mervsports (@mervsports78) November 8, 2019
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This speaks volumes about how Donovan does not have faith in Patton yet. Donovan is now giving lots of minutes to young players such as rookie Darius Bazley, second-year players Hamidou Diallo and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander so it is not an experience thing.
Rather than have Patton sit at the end of the bench, figuratively collecting dust, the OKC Thunder have decided to get him more game time to develop his skills, and more importantly his confidence. As per the OKC Thunder news release.
This also helps out the OKC Blue who is lacking in the big man department.
The OKC Blue roster has one player over 6’9” and that is Namdi Okonkwo who is new to the team.
I would expect Patton to get the start over Okonkwo as Patton has more experience in the G-League and is also a member of the varsity squad.
It will be interesting if Patton can force his way back into the main squad through his time in the G-League. Time, as they say, will tell.