OKC Thunder face reeling Philadelphia 76ers

Perimeter deficiency:

Although most of the offseason focus revolved around the loss of Jimmy Butler, equally detrimental was the exit of J.J. Redick.

Reddick was vital to the 7ers starting rotation. His perimeter prowess opened the court for everyone. Unlike many teams who send their snipers to the corners where they stand stationary Reddick functions similarly to Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry. This trio is more dangerous than the average 3-point specialists because they reposition themselves repeatedly during an offensive possession.

His constant movement forced opposing defenses to assign defenders who are also in constant motion. At times it can look chaotic, but that’s the point it limits the effectiveness of defenses who prefer to function on a string.

Although the loss of Reddick hurts, this situation runs deeper. Scanning the 76ers top 10 perimeter shooters (in terms of efficiency) from last season with a minimum of 10 games played and at least one 3-point attempted, only three remain.

Per Game Table
Rk		G	FG	FGA	FG%	3P	3PA	3P% ▼	PTS/G
3	Jonathon Simmons	15	1.9	4.3	.453	0.6	1.4	.429	5.5
4	Mike Scott	27	2.8	7.0	.400	1.8	4.4	.412	7.8
5	Landry Shamet	54	2.8	6.4	.441	1.8	4.5	.404	8.3
6	J.J. Redick	76	5.9	13.5	.440	3.2	8.0	.397	18.1
7	Robert Covington	13	3.8	9.0	.427	2.3	5.9	.390	11.3
8	Wilson Chandler	36	2.5	5.8	.440	1.3	3.3	.390	6.7
10	Jonah Bolden	44	1.8	3.7	.494	0.8	2.2	.354	4.7
11	Mike Muscala	47	2.3	5.9	.392	1.4	4.2	.342	7.4
12	Jimmy Butler	55	6.3	13.6	.461	0.9	2.7	.338	18.2
15	Tobias Harris	27	6.9	14.8	.469	1.6	5.0	.326	18.2
16	Furkan Korkmaz	48	2.0	5.1	.400	1.0	3.0	.326	5.8
17	Shake Milton	20	1.7	4.4	.391	0.7	2.2	.318	4.4
18	James Ennis	18	1.9	4.6	.410	0.6	2.0	.306	5.3
19	Joel Embiid	64	9.1	18.7	.484	1.2	4.1	.300	27.5
20	Dario Šarić	13	3.7	10.2	.364	1.6	5.4	.300	11.1

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/25/2019.

This season, each of those players has regressed in their efficiency, again likely due to the loss of Reddick and Butler who afforded everyone more flexibility. Comparing this season to last the numbers highlight the issues Philly suffers from deep:

Per Game Table
Rk		G	MP	3P	3PA	3P% ▼	PTS/G
1	Matisse Thybulle	30	17.6	1.0	2.2	.463	4.8
2	Trey Burke	18	14.9	0.7	1.6	.448	7.0
3	Raul Neto	30	11.2	0.5	1.3	.421	3.9
5	Furkan Korkmaz	36	20.5	1.6	4.2	.377	8.3
6	James Ennis	36	17.7	0.9	2.5	.360	6.7
7	Josh Richardson	29	31.8	1.8	5.1	.354	14.8
8	Tobias Harris	37	34.3	1.6	4.6	.343	19.5
9	Mike Scott	37	18.4	1.2	3.5	.341	5.8
10	Al Horford	33	30.6	1.4	4.0	.338	12.2
12	Joel Embiid	30	31.0	1.3	3.8	.330	23.6
13	Shake Milton	11	9.0	0.5	2.0	.227	4.1

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/5/2020.

Notably, the best perimeter shooter is rookie Matisse Thybulle who is out injured. While Trey Burke, Raul Neto and Furkan Korkmaz all post decent perimeter efficiency you’ll note they play the fewest minutes on the team and other than Korkmaz aren’t volume shooters.

The best shooter among the starters is Josh Richardson but even he can be streaky. Each of Harris, Scott, and Horford has significantly regressed. Embiid has made slight improvements from 30 percent to 33 percent and Ben Simmons who promised to let fly this season has five attempts (two makes) to date.

Tobias Harris got paid this offseason presumably to fill this gap but his 34.3 percent marksmanship falls well short of expectations.

That’s not to say the Thunder should abandon defending the perimeter because reserves Furkan Korkmaz and Mike Scott can get hot in a New York minute. Rather, the emphasis should be on stopping the 76ers from getting out in transition where Ben Simmons is at his most effective.