Is an offensive shift on the horizon for the Thunder?
Yahoo Sports senior NBA analyst Kevin O'Connor recaps the Thunder offseason with The Athletic's Sam Amick and wonder if due to the roster restructure, an offensive change is coming? Check out the full conversation on "The Kevin O'Connor Show" and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube or wherever you listen .
Video Transcript
Some of the bigs they have are about trying to have different ways of playing against him when Wemby's on defense, but also defending him when he's on offense.
But also, the other aspect that I'm intrigued by is how it could change the way they operate on the offensive end of the floor because with Dort, the spacing, sometimes he was the guy you could help off of.
Isaiah Joe was a f- excellent three-point shooter but not a great guy off the dribble.
So they draft Adi Maara, a big man who provides size against a Wemby, but also provides some creation.
You could run a little bit of offense through him.
They trade up to, to draft Bennett Sturtz, who in college was one of the highest usage pick and roll creators in all of the nation.
And so they have Jared McCain, they have AJ Mitchell, they have these different types of ball handlers, and then in July- Yep the team, the Team Canada head coach comes out and says that SGA asked to play more off the ball.
I- is it possible that the Thunder perhaps could be undergoing a very subtle shift in the way in which they play on the offensive end of the floor?
Have you heard anything about that?
'Cause I, I, I think their actions at least indicate that there might be a shift between SGA heavy on ball and maybe adding- Yeah a little bit more players to other creators on this team.
No, I haven't heard it, but your, I d- I do think your analysis is spot on.
I, I a- admittedly, I missed the Canadian coach's commentary, and I think that is for sure worth highlighting.
I mean, and the evolution of what they do, if it does go that direction would be fun to see 'cause that, first of all, you know, if you're not moving, you're dying, or some version of that and, and that's something they know.
And the guys you mentioned, you know, especially Jared with the run that he had in the playoffs, like, you have a ton of pop between AJ and Jared, you know, and Cason on the other end of the floor.
You know, giving those guys the, the breathing room to do their thing.
The, the big man breakdown that you had, Kevin, I, I like, too, because as you know, if you and I'll quickly do an aside here.
If you come out of the playoffs and we all saw how much Chet struggled against Wemby, like, they were never gonna give up on Chet.
Everybody knows that.
But you had to do something.
You had to shore up that part of the attack that, that had been exposed against the Spurs.
And this is an imperfect comparison, but it makes me think of, you know, the, the dynasty Warriors when Steph was at his best offensively, they were self-aware enough to know that they needed to help him defensively, right?
So Klay is gonna guard the other team's best guy, such and such.
And, and that with Chet, it's like it is what it is.
Like, that one-on-one matchup against Wemby is not gonna go in your favor, and it's probably not gonna go in your favor for the next 15 years.
So you have to find ways to, to, you know, to diversify and help him out.
Yeah, and I think ultimately that's what all this lineup flexibility is gonna be able to do.
I mean, they're, they're an interesting team, man.
Like, I, I think, I think with OKC, that's the number one thing I'm gonna be watching for.
Do they tweak their style of play?
But then again, I might just be reading way too much into the Team Canada head coach's comments, and it might just be he wanted to chill.
