OKC Thunder: The rise and fall of Terrance Ferguson

The rise.

Ferguson showed tremendous signs of development between his first and second season which is what all teams hope for in their rookies. The team also traded away forward Carmelo Anthony which allowed for a shuffle in the starting rotation.

Ferguson was the starting off-guard, playing alongside Russell Westbrook most of the season. His size and defensive acumen, coupled with better shooting, cemented Ferguson in the lineup. He could defend three positions at a pinch, allowing the team’s superstars a slight break at the defensive end.

He started all 74 games he played that season, Ferguson averaged 6.9 points, 1.9 rebounds, 1.0 assists and  0.5 steals per game. He shot the ball well, hitting 36.6 percent on the 3.9 attempts made per game from deep.

When you are playing alongside Paul George and Westbrook, these numbers are good to help space the floor. It was easy to see the growth in confidence within Ferguson, he was cutting to the hoop for dunks or camping behind the line for the 3-ball.

This season, Ferguson appeared to continue where he left off in the 2018-19 season. He started 36 of a possible 42 games, missing six due to various reasons. He was given some of the biggest defensive tasks in the NBA and he attacked them with vigor.

Offensively he had one game out of the first ten where he scored more than ten points. It was possible to live with his inconsistent scoring thanks to the great job he was doing on defense. However, a month into the season, Ferguson appeared to not be fully engaged in games and this was a concern.