OKC Thunder: The rise and fall of Terrance Ferguson

The fall.

As mentioned in the previous slide, Ferguson appeared to be distracted and not playing to his full potential. The reason for this was first broken by The Oklahoman, Ferguson was embroiled in a custody battle for his daughter with his ex-fiancé – Lawren Jensen.

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The Thunder is a family first organization and they made sure that Ferguson was able to be there to fight for his daughter. However, as a franchise, they still needed to keep playing. It takes a global pandemic to stop the NBA season, one player’s personal issues are not going to have an impact.

The Thunder called up rookie Luguentz Dort from the G-League to help them. Abdel Nader had stepped into the starting lineup and Hamidou Diallo was out due to his elbow injury. Deonte Burton was considered spoiled goods after his locker room issue.

This meant the stocks at the wing position were quite low. Dort was considered an insurance policy. However, he made a crucial play to force overtime against the Minnesota Timberwolves and earned himself some more time in the varsity squad.

To say that Dort is the reason Ferguson is not high in the rotation is too simplistic. Dort’s star is on the rise, just look at his defense on James Harden in the current playoff series. However, there are many other reasons Ferguson has not resumed his place back in the lineup.

Firstly there is the issue of his shooting. Ferguson is averaging 2.0 points per game since he came back to the team in February. He is 8-of-40 from deep, good for only 20 percent. From the floor, he is 12-of-54 which is good for 22 percent.

Ferguson has committed 39 fouls and only scored 38 points in the time he has been back with the squad. It is not through lack of opportunity either, Ferguson is averaging just under 17 minutes per game.

With one year left on his rookie deal, Ferguson needs to spend the offseason working on his game and come back with a greater level of confidence. His future in the NBA may depend on it.