Grading the 2021-22 Oklahoma City Thunder bench unit

Where does Isaiah Roby fit into the future of the Oklahoma City Thunder?

Isaiah Roby is a 24-year-old tweener who is stuck between a forward and center, though constructing a roster around him that would place him solely as a power forward could provide natural improvement for his game.

He shot 46-percent from distance last year, a career-high up from 31-percnet in 2020-21 ranking him in the 98th percentile for his position. He shoots 57-percent on long mid-range jumpers less than a percentile point behind Jarrett Allen of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and leaped up eight percentage points at the rim, including some great posterizing dunks, shooting 68-percent at the cup ranking him in the 55th percentile.

The only area Roby struggled offensively was his short mid-range jumper, coming in at 32-percent which drug his average down to 34-percent overall in the mid-range. Roby has played 109-career games, 45 of which came last year with 28 games started. The Nebraska product averaged a career-high ten points, one assist, and four rebounds. He saw his usage rate climb to 17.5-percent which is in the 60th percentile for his position.

I continue to be a firm believer in Isaiah Roby as an NBA player, at 24 years old he has a really good skill set to stick around as a rotational player. After all, I was the one talking fans off the ledge following a bad preseason and training camp during his first season in Bricktown.

However, with the need to create up to four roster spots, it will be interesting to see how creative Sam Presti can get. The team can decline his 1.9-million dollar option and wash their hands of one roster spot to bring in one of their draft picks. While I still think it is likely Roby is back in Bricktown to start the 2022-23 season, it is a situation worth monitoring as we enter the summer months.

Grade: B

Up next, we will take a look at the veteran players on this roster. Leave below your grades for the bench unit in the comment section!