OKC Thunder youngsters impressive in victorious preseason debut – Player Grades

Trio of youngsters standout in their debut with OKC Thunder

Thunder Nation is bracing for what most expect to be a new situation for this fanbase –losing and lots of it. But, in this initial outing at least, the young upstarts not only captured the victory but did so in an exciting fashion putting up 121 points showcasing an entertaining brand of basketball at that.

Throwing my hand up to own I never saw THIS version of Theo Maledon coming. In fact, in the draft profiles, I suggested it wouldn’t be wise to pick Maledon with the Thunder 25th pick (I did expect him to be picked in the first round).

While this was only one game and any player can have a standout game what the rookie showed yesterday was more than enough to state Sam Presti got a steal nabbing the youngster at 34.

Maledon’s mentor Tony Parker suggested the youngster should’ve been a lottery pick. Based on his performance with minutes coming against the Spurs core – it’s hard to disagree. in fact, his performance gave credence to why Parker fired ASVEL head coach Zvezdan Mitrovic. Parker stated when NBA executives came to catch Maledon the coach wouldn’t play him.

I can verify there simply wasn’t a lot of great footage of the youngster. Just the highlights Maledon collected in the victory over the Spurs would’ve pushed his stock through the roof.

In hindsight, Thunder fans should maybe send a big thank you to Mitrovic as they’ve seemingly robbed the draft.

The effect of watching years of Tony Parker was obvious in Maledon’s drives to the basket. Whereas SGA has the herky-jerky move down pat Maledon is masterful at his change of pace and his first step was so deceptive it threw off numerous defenders.

Overall, Maledon scored 20 points, grabbed five rebounds, dished two assists (countless hockey assists), and had a single turnover. His shooting splits of 50/50/100 were downright impressive as he shot 7 of 14 from the field, 2 of 4 from deep, and 4 of 4 from the charity stripe.

The biggest takeaway is Maledon DID NOT look like a rookie on either end of the court. While the Spurs rookie Devin Vassell had a solid outing – he still had moments where he looked every bit the rookie especially on the defensive end (and he was an above-average defender in college).

Although it would’ve been nice to witness a film package similar to what Maledon displayed yesterday – the other side of that coin is – –  thankfully there wasn’t film of him playing like he did Saturday. If there had been the Thunder wouldn’t have landed him in the draft.