OKC Thunder: 2 players who must step up in SGA’s extended absence

OKC Thunder player No. 1) Theo Maledon

One of the surprise rookies from this year’s class has been OKC Thunder point guard Theo Maledon. Selected 34th overall, the 19-year-old came into the league already three years of professional experience playing overseas with the EuroLeague team ASVEL Basket and, right off the bat, this said experience showed.

Now, 38 games into the season the point guard has worked his way into the starting rotation for the Thunder and, since attaining said role, has performed admirably.

Through 22 starts, Maledon is finding himself posting averages of 9.6 points, 3.8 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game on 41 percent shooting from deep.

Sharing the backcourt with Gilgeous-Alexander has allowed the guard to have defenses ease up on him which, in turn, has allowed him to produce at such efficient levels to this point.

Now, however, with the SGA out, Maledon is destined to get more of an uptick in his usage, both as a facilitator, scorer, and, essentially, as the main floor general.

This team has already struggled with finding the open man as is (rank 25th in assists per game), and that has been with Gilgeous-Alexander’s nearly six dimes a game.

Now, with no clear-cut go-to player who can buy his own bucket, this offense will be heavily dependent on proper ball movement to get some points on the board. With Maledon, his ability to properly run an offense needs to be on full display moving forward.

Without their star, the rookie must now serve as the quarterback of this team.