Is Chris Paul plus 4 reserve lineup OKC Thunder secret weapon?

OKC Thunder bench boss Billy Donovan might’ve exposed a secret weapon simply from tweaking lineups due to necessity.

With the OKC Thunder sixth man, Dennis Schroder out of the bubble spending quality family time with his wife Ellen, son, and a new baby girl his teammates continue to play seeded games in preparation for the postseason.

His absence required Billy Donovan to tweak his rotations primarily alternating the minutes Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chris Paul captain the reserve unit.

SGA looked better and more comfortable in the role in his second game than he did in the first outing but had arguably his worst game as a member of the Thunder in the loss to Memphis. This was partially a result of who the Thunder faced and partially due to Shai adapting to the role.

Then suddenly Henny Penny hit the Thunder portion of the bubble and five —count them FIVE core contributors had to miss the Monday, August 10th game versus the red hot Suns.

This was an especially cruel twist of fate given the Thunder was playing their back-to-back game.

The Thunder lost the game but for a good portion of the first half were leading the game and this article that I had started writing suddenly had additional substance for my theory.

Point God plus reserve lineup – a hidden secret?

Through the five recent games, there is a lineup that has been hit and miss for Billy Donovan — but more HIT than miss.

That lineup is the ‘Point God – plus four’ reserve unit.

When they excel they remind of another similar veteran guard and reserve lineup that feasted a few seasons back. Specifically, the reigning champion Raptors had a group they called the bench mob that featured Delon Wright, Pascal Siakam, Norman Powell, and Jakob Poeltl.

Eventually, Fred VanVleet joined that unit. Nick Nurse who ran the offense at that time under Dwane Casey had that young group workout during summers. Many in the group spent time in the G-League winning a title and being in the finals over two successive seasons.

Wright and Poeltl would get traded as part of the Marc Gasol and Kawhi Leonard deals respectively but the trio of Siakam, VanVleet, and Powell benefited greatly from that time period.

The other significant point from that period was a unit the Raptors ran featuring Kyle Lowry and four of the youngsters. Part of the reason why the Lowry lore extends so far back in time is tied to his positive effect on everyone he played with.

Every lineup that featured Lowry performed better. Virtually any four reserves could be used with Lowry and the net effect was an increased differential and production. It remains an option Nurse will pull out as he did on December 22nd with the Mavericks up 30 at 2:55 of the third.

It epitomized the power of how one player can utilize youth, athleticism, and energy to great effect. Toronto won the game with Lowry and four reserves (starter Fred VanVleet checked in with 1:55 left in the fourth quarter to join Lowry and three reserves).

Chris Paul like Lowry has a similar mindset and potential to improve everyone around him. It’s similar to the effect Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, or Jimmy Butler can have on their teams.

Although these Thunder lineups are occurring out of necessity it might have unearthed a secret weapon for Billy Donovan. In particular, the lineup with CP3, Andre Roberson, Hamidou Diallo, Darius Bazley, and Nerlens Noel proved to be particularly effective against both the Lakers and Nuggets. Substituting Noel for Adams was equally effective.

Unfortunately, that didn’t carry over in the Grizzlies game but the entire roster and lineups were affected because Steven Adams was also out.

In the win over the Wizards and loss to the Suns, again, the lineup which worked to great effect featured the trio of Hamidou Diallo, Darius Bazley, and Andre Roberson plus CP3 and Luguentz Dort.

Moving forward, I’d like to see Donovan utilize CP3 with the trio of Lu Dort, Roberson, and Diallo plus either Adams or Noel. If Bazley’s shot is falling Billy can use him or add Nader as a floor spacer.

Clearly the youngsters being able to hit their shots would allow these lineups to excel. That Raptors unit’s primary focus was defense but they created so many turnovers it augmented their offense. That’s why the CP3 combo that also includes defensive specialist (pests) Dre, Lu, and Hami could be a killer momentum stopper or shifter. In truth, the ideal “momentum lineup” would feature SGA as well.

The Suns match offered the best example of how this lineup can be effective. It’s not meant to be on the floor for long extended periods. Rather, it can be utilized to stop a run, present a different tempo, throw off some hot shooter’s mojo, or simply shift the dynamics in the game.

If you’re searching for reasons why Billy Donovan would want to variegate his rotations you need look no further than the success of Darius Bazley in the last two games (or Lu Dort, Hami, and Dre).

That’s also the beauty of Chris Paul. The savvy vet will get the ball to a player in the perfect location and find the open man allowing them time and space to get up a shot.

Although the Grizzlies loss puts a bit of a damper on this theory, it’s still more of an outlier. The games are coming every other day and to be frank, the Thunder were due for a bad game. The last time OKC was beaten this badly was at the end of February versus the Bucks playing on the second night of a back-to-back.

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Today’s loss shouldn’t be included either given any team missing five core contributors wouldn’t be expected to compete let alone lead for the majority of a  full half of basketball.

The bottom line is there is no certainty how long Paul will be with the Thunder. Therefore the team needs to expose the youngsters to him as much as possible so they can develop fundamental skills and allow that competitive winning nature to seep over them.

Go back and take a look at rookie Fred VanVleet and then fast forward to the current day. There are numerous nuances in his game that scream Lowry. If the Thunder can let others besides Shai benefit from that opportunity with Paul, it’s a no-brainer that they should.

As noted, Paul and the athletic defensive wings Roberson and Diallo had a palpable effect on Darius Bazley who scored a career-high 23 points Sunday and 22 points today. While TI has cited Bazley as untouchable some weren’t buying the stock. His back-to-back 20 point performances offer evidence to the contrary. In fact, Thunder PR reminded the only OKC rookies to deliver that result in history were Russell Westbrook and James. Harden.

Moving forward, the loss today wasn’t ideal. but fortunately and improbably the Mavericks who played without Luka Doncic or Kristaps Porzingis delivered the Jazz their third consecutive loss which keeps the Thunder ahead of Utah in the fifth seed.

Two games remain for the Thunder with the Heat up Wednesday and the Clippers on Friday while the Jazz has only one game remaining against the Spurs. Another loss by the Jazz would keep OKC ahead or they could take matters into their own hands and win one of the two remaining contests.

In the interim, Billy Donovan whether by intention or luck has stumbled upon a lineup that can positively affect three things he loves –

1. Strong defense
2. Increased tempo
3. Change of pace

It might not be a lineup he calls upon frequently, particularly if SGA, Gallo and Adams return for the next two matches.

But if nothing else the CP3 plus four reserve lineup could be a secret weapon for the OKC Thunder.