Continuing Intentions OKC Thunder end of season roundtable series we turn our attention to the defensive end of the court.
The first name that pops up is obviously Luguentz Dort who is becoming one of the best two-way players in the NBA. Whether he’ll get the accolades this season or down the road at some point it’s a given he’ll be landing on an All-Defensive first team.
Dort will have an argument to make one of the two All-Defensive teams this year even with the Thunder tanking given his presence on key leader boards. For example, he lands in the top 10 (ninth) on RAPTOR for defensive rating.
Defense is a hard metric to narrow down as it is because the team affects the overall rating for so much of where individuals land on key statistical boards. And, let’s face it with the OKC Thunder ranking 24th overall on defense it’s not helping individuals stand out.
Regardless, we’re confident Dort is the Thunder defensive master so for the second question in the round table Intentions is turning our attention to who is the beta to Dort’s alpha.
OKC Thunder season end roundtable – Who is Dort’s defensive Robin?
Question 2: If there was a team award for Defensive Player of the Year undoubtedly Luguentz Dort easily wins it. Diving into the remainder of the squad who is your Defensive Robin to Dort’s Batman?
Mark Nilon – @MarkNilon_NBA
Kenrich Williams for sure. The man is an all-out energizer bunny who absolutely has earned the nickname “Kenny Hustle” with the OKC Thunder in just one season.
Throughout the year, we’ve seen Williams squaring up against the likes of wings, star guards, and even big men, with the third-year baller, even finding himself logging reps at center from time to time.
That kind of versatility should never go underappreciated.
Thunder fans should be happy to have a guy like Kenrich Williams in tow moving forward.
Brandon Dale: @MrOKCtober
My defensive Robin would have to be Theo Maledon. His persistence on the defensive end has been aggressive the entire season.
Whether he is blocking shots, he has no business getting to or grabbing steals during passing lanes, and constantly being a pest defensively, Maledon will continue to grow each season defensively.
If he is already this polished as a rookie, look for him to be even better during his sophomore campaign.
Shontelle Matano: @ShontelleMatano
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I’m going with Kenrich Williams aka Kenny Hustle. He’s all about heart, effort, and passion. While he may not be getting the most points every night, he’s always staying aggressive and doing anything to help the team succeed.
He’s been awesome to watch this season and no doubt he’ll continue to grow as he heads into his second year with the OKC Thunder.
Tamberlyn Richardson – @TTOTambz
The common denominator of the team is Kenrich Williams — after all there is a legitimate reason why he’s called “Kenny Hustle”.
That said, I’ll offer up Isaiah Roby as an option to Wiliams given his performance on some key defensive leader boards.
Isaiah Roby and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander rank ahead of Dort for deflections. Roby again is the top-performing Thunder player for offensive loose balls recovered and second only to Dort for total loose balls recovered.
Matthew Hallett – @mervsports78
Again for me, it is Williams. He just wants to outwork his man and when Dort came off, Williams was the man to take over on the opponents best player