Thunder Player Power Rankings: The Hateful Eight

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All things considered, that was a smashing first week of the season for the Thunder. It started with nine players and ended with eight, the one new subtraction being Russell Westbrook, who you know, accounts for like 40 percent of the Thunder’s entire offense.

The Portland game went roughly as imagined, with Westbrook watching the world burn en route to 38 points in 33 minutes, but alas, a 17-point loss as the Thunder ran out of steam in a blowout fourth quarter. The Clipper game did not go as imagined, with Westbrook breaking his hand in the second quarter as a skeleton group of Thunderers tried to pull a stunner and beat a fully healthy contender on the road on the second night of a back-to-back, after having played with nine players. A three-point loss, but a breakout performance from Perry Jones III as the Thunder have themselves a chance.

As things turned to the game against Denver, it felt like despite it being an incredible effort against the Clippers, it might have been a missed opportunity to catch a team sleeping. Wins are going to be hard to come by for the next few weeks, and every single one OKC can get is worth its weight in gold. There was hope to get back either Reggie Jackson or Jeremy Lamb for Saturday’s game, but instead, it was the Hateful Eight again.

They didn’t roll over. They didn’t look tired. They didn’t look desperate or depressed. They looked like they had a point to prove. They built a 26-point lead and used some incredible shot-making down the stretch to hang on for a much, much-needed win.

And really, that win painted the previous two losses with a new brush as well. If the Thunder had gotten waxed by the Nuggets, the first two games — especially the tight loss in LA — would’ve been fluke outliers. But by handling the Nuggets, it looks like it was no happy accident to be competitive. That really, this team is well organized, together and committed. Scott Brooks had them prepared to execute a plan, and they did exactly that. They’re running clever offense that is trying to maximize the limited talent they have on the floor.

Against the Nuggets, the Thunder had 304 passes. Last season, they rarely cracked 280. The way they played was entirely selfless basketball, just working the ball each possession until someone could find a good shot. So far this season, they’re in the top five in least amount of midrange shots taken, and are averaging 29.7 attempts per game under five feet. Last season, the Thunder took 27.9, and that’s with two of the best attacking finishers in the league, mind you.

Can they keep it up for another few weeks? The schedule is friendly after this brutal early start passes, but if what we’ve seen so far is any indication, this team will fight, scratch and claw to keep its head above water. I think they may just be alright.

Player rankings:

1. Perry Jones III

Here’s what a scouting service said about Jones back in 2012:

“In a perfect world, Jones would be drafted in the mid to late portion of the lottery and given time to develop — there’s absolutely no question he possesses the talent to reach his terrific potential. Unfortunately, in a draft that is looking increasingly shallow by the day, teams may not be able to resist taking him early on (potentially as high as first overall), which will put a significant amount of pressure on both him and the organization. Whether or not he’s able to deal with such high expectations remains to be seen …

“With that said, Jones can easily turn that momentum around with strong workouts and interviews in the next two months, as he’s exactly the type of prospect NBA GMs tend to fall in love with in June. At the moment, he clearly has no idea how to use the tremendous tools that are at his disposal, but it’s far too early in his career to definitively say he never will. In a strong environment with great coaching and plenty of patience, Jones could become a very useful NBA player, and surely there will be no shortage of teams willing to invest in his talent. The question is, how high in the draft will he ultimately be selected?”

We all know what happened next. Jones had his knees medically red flagged shortly before the draft and he slipped all the way to No. 29 where the Thunder happily scooped him up. The issue though wasn’t just that he was joining an already stacked roster, but it was that he was coming in as a positionless utility player. Scott Brooks tried to paint him into the corner of being simply “Kevin Durant’s backup,” but Jones has too much talent and versatility for that. Problem was that he was neither a stretch 4 or a shooting guard either. He didn’t have a home, except for that he was a 6-10 freak athlete.

So the Thunder remained patient. They didn’t rush to judgment about him as so many others couldn’t wait to do. They sent him tot he D-League multiple times before pulling him into the rotation early last season. He was actually quite productive at times, and even slotted in at starting shooting guard for a spell. He expanded his game to be a solid corner 3-point shooter — 42 percent on 38 attempts — and started to figure to be a decent pick-and-pop option.

Still, he seemed to be wasting his unique skillset by way of lacking assertiveness, as well as opportunity. It’s just a supply and demand issue for Jones. With Durant and Westbrook, there’s not much space for him to expand and score 15 a night. And that was the big problem — he’s not nearly as effective in a role where he’s not allowed to play. David Thorpe said it best: Perry Jones can really play when you let him; he can’t when you don’t.

For the next few weeks, he’s the Thunder’s guy, or at least one of him. He and Reggie Jackson will form a poor man’s Westbrook and Durant tandem, trying to replicate what the Thunder’s superduo does on a nightly basis. Jones has the tools to do some of that. Will he routinely score between 20 and 30? Highly doubt that. But as long as he keeps building his confidence and realizing that he’s player capable of succeeding in this league, he might just start scratching some of the potential scouts saw in him earlier.

2. Serge Ibaka

Ibaka wasn’t good against the Blazers. He was slightly above average against the Clippers, knocking down a couple big shots in the fourth quarter. But he was terrific against the Nuggets, creating his own shot on face-ups and even putting the ball on the floor a little to attack the basket.

One area the Thunder could come out brighter than before with this down period is in figuring out Ibaka is an effective fourth quarter player. I’ve written about it a lot before, but the Thunder have routinely lost sight of Ibaka in close games. His usage numbers severely dipped from the first three quarters to the fourth, as well as his attempts. As the games got tighter, the Thunder offense became much more two-dimensional as Westbrook and Durant ran the show almost exclusively.

And what was lost in that was a superbly talented offensive player, one that expands the offense in a number of ways. But as Ibaka proved against the Nuggets, he can be trusted to take and make big shots. The 3 he hit from the quarter to put OKC back up seven with 90 seconds left was a massive shot, mostly because he was fresh off missed from the left wing a possession before. Ibaka had a big shot, and he missed. Instead of thinking that over and not wanting the ball again, he couldn’t wait to fire on his first touch the next time down, canning the biggest shot of the game.

That’s important stuff not just for Ibaka’s confidence, but for Westbrook and Durant — and Scott Brooks — to observe from the bench.

3. Kendrick Perkins

All you need to know, right here:

4. Russell Westbrook

He only played a total of 42 minutes in the first three games, but 33 of those were some of the most electrifying you’ll ever see. The way Westbrook torched the Blazers turned out to be a tease of what we’re now going to be missing out on the next four weeks, but he proved a lot in that isolated performance.

He didn’t go rogue. He didn’t play lone maverick. He played within the offense and just cranked his aggressiveness a wee bit. He wasn’t the reckless ball-hogging monster some expected him to be. He was just the entire focal point and he embraced it all. He was so devastatingly good that I almost hope he can get back in four weeks while Durant needs an extra two so that we can pick up where we left off. Just for a couple weeks.

5. Andre Roberson

This dude is so good on the defensive end already that I have no idea if he is even allowed a ceiling on that end of the floor. Because really, how can he get all that much better? He’s a menace on the ball, using his ridiculous length and lateral quickness to limit any ball-handler. He’s fantastic off the ball, recovering through screens and closing out on shooters. He’s got great instincts, recognizing dangerous situations and rotating off his man for blocks and helpful contests. He’s maybe the team’s best rebounder right now and he’s aggressive in attacking the glass.

He’s really, really good. On the defensive end.

But here’s the thing: He’s already made some big strides on the other side, figuring out how to run the floor and finish and understanding that his best asset is cutting weakside in tight pockets. He can’t dribble and he can’t shoot, two important parts of good offense. But he’s 22 years old and far from a polished product on that end. Most players come in with a heap of offensive skill and can’t wait to deploy it all in an NBA game. Roberson is the opposite. He’s got the defensive side of things mostly solved and just has to build some offense that is passable.

6. Steven Adams

He hasn’t been living up to the standards he set in preseason, but Adams has been more than solid in his three starts so far. He’s averaging 9.0 points and 6.7 rebounds in 27.3 minutes a game and just 3.7 fouls. Thing is, though, maybe his most impressive yet has been a foul. Against the Clippers, his effort to completely lay out Polamalu-style to put Blake Griffin on the line really embodies the spirit this team is playing with.

7. Lance Thomas

Perk on Thomas after the Denver game: “You watch guys get an opportunity, especially a guy like Lance Thomas. He’s got an opportunity and he’s just been a true professional. If you see how to make a team, write a book on Lance Thomas.”

I don’t know if that book would really be all that popular or not, but Perk’s point hits home. Lance Thomas, a completely unremarkable college player that bounced around just barely in the NBA, hasn’t just made the Thunder, but has been an important contributor thus far.

8. Sebastian Telfair

Through three games Telfair is shooting 4-28 from the field (14 percent!) but he did run the team really well against the Nuggets, dishing out nine assists to just one turnover. He can’t shoot and he can’t finish in the paint, but he can set up an offense decently. When the Thunder signed him over the summer, there was no way he ever expected to be playing 38 minutes a game, much less maybe even 38 minutes the entire season.

9. Nick Collison

Collison has been his typically steady self, but playing in a role where he can’t really be a role guy is kind of confusing for him, I think. Without Jackson, he might actually be the Thunder’s second best creator behind Perry Jones, as the Thunder can just plop Collison on an elbow and let him find a cutter or run some two-man game.

Inactives: Reggie Jackson, Jeremy Lamb, Kevin Durant, Grant Jerrett, Anthony Morrow