Dan Favale and Adam Fromal (Bleacher Report) look at the top 15 point guards in the league: “But we’d be remiss to gloss over Westbrook’s most glaring wart. And it ain’t his defense. His effort waxes and wanes. Whatever. That happens to high-usage lifelines. His penchant for errant off-the-dribble jumpers is more damning.”
Grant Afseth (OKC Thunder Wire) looks at if Paul George can regain his mid-range efficiency: “Last season, George’s output on mid-range jumpers within the half-court dropped to only 0.65 points per possession. His efficiency ranked 14th in the league compared to the 15 players that logged at least 200 attempts. The main difference was that George went from shooting on average 2.6-of-5.5 (47.1 percent) on two-point pull-ups in 2016-17 to 1.3-of-3.6 (36.2 percent) last season.”
Nick Gallo (OKCThunder.com) looks back at the Blue & White scrimmage: “There’s been much discussion publicly over the starting power forward role, but Donovan and company don’t seem altogether concerned about deciding who begins the game and who finishes it at the moment. The team knows that both Patterson and Jerami Grant, the likeliest candidates for the starting spot, are going to be absolutely vital to the total Thunder product. Grant didn’t have a great shooting performance in the scrimmage, but did score eight points to go with nine rebounds and a steal.”
Clay Horning (Norman Transcript) on how Patrick Patterson could make the Thunder a better team: “Nobody was efficient the way Patterson was efficient. So, if you’re looking for reasons why OKC might be quite a bit better this coming season than last — 48 wins; first-round playoff exit — Patterson is a prime exhibit. “He’s in a much better place than he was a year ago,” Donovan said. Last offseason, a minor knee surgery became a major setback.”
