Week in Review: Payne’s World

Forgive me, but I’m just so darn excited to see Cameron Payne in the rotation that I’m going to dedicate a few paragraphs to the rookie first-round pick.

First things first, a caveat about sample sizes.  Payne has received minutes as the bona fide backup PG in 5 games now, so it’s unreasonable to draw too many conclusions from those games.  Also, while I’m going to compare Payne’s output to DJ Augustin, the teammate he replaced as the backup PG, Augustin’s stats are based on significantly more minutes played.  But all that being said, Payne’s stats are a marked improvement over Augustin.  As the backup PG, Augustin averaged 16 minutes per game, 4.4 points, 1.9 assists (assist % of 27%), and a TS% of 52%.  Payne, on the other hand, averaged 17 minutes per game, 10 points, 2.8 assists (assist % of 25%), and a TS% of 63%.

With Payne at the helm, the second unit has the potential to not be the worst thing on earth, and maybe even good at times if Dion Waiters doesn’t waste too many possessions.  With Payne you have a player who can create shots for himself and for others, something with which Augustin has struggled.  And importantly, Payne looks confident handling the ball.

In the game against the Milwaukee Bucks, two assists really stood out to me.  The first assist is off of a pick and roll with Enes Kanter.  Payne does an excellent job of beating his man, forcing help, which opens up Kanter down the lane.  Payne lofts a pass where only Kanter can get it, and two points results.

The second assist is in transition, again to Kanter.  Despite numbers favoring the Bucks (a 3 on 4 fastbreak), Payne hesitates to draw the defense while Kanter slips behind.  Payne darts it to Kanter, who lays it in.

As the second unit (with Payne at the point) plays more and more minutes, I firmly believe that the lineup will coalesce to become less of an anchor, and more of a benefit.

THE GAMES

• Win vs. the Milwaukee Bucks on December 29, 131-123
• Win vs. the Phoenix Suns on December 31, 110-106
• Win at the Charlotte Hornets on January 2, 109-90
• Loss vs. the Sacramento Kings on January 4, 104-116

THE BEST PLAYER

Russell Westbrook. Over the last four, Westbrook has continued his excellent play, averaging 24 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals. He’s also done a great job of limiting turnovers. Notwithstanding his 7 turnovers in the loss against the Kings, Westbrook had just 7 combined turnovers in the preceding 3 games. Westbrook is also on pace for his best assist-to-turnover ratio since the 2009-10 season.

THE WORST PLAYER

Nick Collison.  Man, I’m really torn this week. I’m not going to pretend like the Thunder played perfect basketball this week, but the issues were mostly defensive, and that’s more of a team issue than something that can be blamed on a single player. And, no one player really stood out as being obviously the worst.

My analysis, though, left me with three possibilities: Dion Waiters, an inefficient scorer who had two solid games juxtaposed to two poor games, Singler, a player who didn’t do anything bad per se, but really didn’t do much of anything either, and Nick Collison, who literally did nothing. I am ultimately going with Collison, who racked up the stats this week (sarcastic emoji): 31 total minutes played, 6 rebounds, and just a single made basket.

I feel like age is slowly catching up to Nick “Thunder” Collison, and it’s heartbreaking. Collison is slowly devolving from gritty veteran into “random guy who plays backup power forward.” To describe him on a casual level, he’s that guy in pickup ball that you don’t necessarily pick last because he’s not flat-out awful and won’t hurt you, but he’s otherwise just there, defending a little, but otherwise occupying space just so you can have even teams.

Dishonorable mention: Waiters is a close second here. Against the Suns and Hornets, Waiters played exactly how you’d want him to play: not forcing many shots, playing solid defense, rebounding, and setting up teammates. Against the Bucks and the Kings, Waiters looked inept, with Waiters converting just a single shot in each game. In fact, Waiters has managed to have 7 games where he made 1 or fewer shots on 6 or more attempts, and the Thunder are 3-4 in those games.

THE BEST PERFORMANCE

Russell Westbrook against the Phoenix Suns. I think the best way to sum up Westbrook’s 36 point, 12 assist, and 5 steal performance (on 63% shooting from the floor and 100% from the free-throw line) is “excellent.”

THE WORST PERFORMANCE

Kevin Durant’s toe. Seriously. Due to a sprained right big toe suffered against the Charlotte Hornets, Durant missed the Thunder’s embarrassing loss at home to the Sacramento Kings, and is “day-to-day,” Thunder speak for “he will return sometime in the future.” As a result of the loss to the Kings, the Thunder fall to 3-4 this season without Durant.

Dishonorable mention: After a run of stellar defense, the Thunder defense has been awful over the last six games, save a solid performance against the Hornets. Five out of the last six opponents have hit the century mark in points, and three of the last six have scored 112 or more. Not good.

THE BEST PLAY

Kevin Durant seals it against the Phoenix Suns. Yes, it’s the Suns who are melting down before our very eyes, but Singler’s hustle to grab the offense rebound, while the Thunder were holding on to a two-point advantage, and then finding a cutting Durant for the dunk was my favorite play of the week.

THE WORST PLAY

Kyle Singler goes for the poster.  I definitely enjoyed watching Singler elevate (sorta) to attempt a posterizing throw down. And best of all, it basically went exactly how you’d expect.

Also fun, Payne jumping off the bench ready to bust a move if Singler put it home.

WEEK IN PREVIEW

• Vs. the Memphis Grizzlies on January 6 at 8:30 pm (ESPN). No KD could spell trouble for the Thunder.
• At the Los Angeles Lakers on January 8 at 9:30 pm (ESPN). If Durant is out, I think the Lakers could stay within 20, but the real shame here is being deprived of another KD-Black Mamba duel in Kobe’s swan song.
• At the Portland Trailerblazers on January 10 at 8:00 pm (FSOK). The Thunder thoroughly handled Portland at home back on December 16, 2015, but if Lillard and McCollum can get it going, the Thunder may have their hands full.