OKC Thunder: Abdel Nader season and contract grades

Contract grade

Nader has just finished the second year of his three-year contract with the OKC Thunder. He played 55 of a possible 72 games, only missing eight through injury. He averaged 6.3 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 0.7 assists.

More from Thunderous Intentions

• Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
• Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
• 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
• Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

Nader is a shooter going 46.8 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from deep. This is respectable for a bench player but not good enough for a player who is trying to make his name in the league as a shooter.

However, as he was only paid $1.6 million for last season, it is safe to say that he was good value for money. He was a part of the Thunder success throughout the season, stepping up when his coach asked him to. He has a team option of $1.7 million for next season.

Contract grade – A

Season grade

As with most fringe rotation players in the NBA, Nader had a roller coaster of a season. In the first part of the season, he looked like he should be a G-League bench player, not an NBA bench player. However, Nader would change that.

He was in the rotation for a month but when other players returned he could not hold his minutes. The rise of Dort had a lot to do with that. Nader lifted his scoring average from 4.0 points to 6.3 points per game but this can be explained by the 4.4 extra minutes per game he played this season.

Season grade – C+