Will Huestis find playing time at PF?
He is 6-foot-7 and 230 pounds, and that makes Josh Huestis a big person but a small forward.
Prototypically, at least, Huestis is built for the wing. But in the preseason, the Thunder used the third-year forward as a pick-and-pop power forward and even in some minutes at center.
“When I first came into the league it was much different even than it is today, obviously,” Huestis said Friday. “First coming in, three was pretty much my designated spot. But everything’s changing. The four is changing. The five is changing.”
As those frontcourt positions change, it’s possible that Huestis could see an increased chance to earn some minutes.
In four preseason games, he averaged 17.7 mostly productive minutes, averaging 7.5 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 41.2 percent from 3-point range.
That doesn’t mean minutes are available when the regular season opens on Thursday. At some point, the Thunder will have Patrick Patterson back on the floor, and whenever the free-agent acquisition returns from August knee surgery, he figures to cut into the available minutes at the power forward and center spots.
Patterson is one of nine players — along with starters Russell Westbrook, Andre Roberson, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony and Steven Adams and reserves Raymond Felton, Alex Abrines and Jerami Grant — who seem to have rotation spots locked up.
With preseason games out of the way, it’s unclear how coach Billy Donovan will distribute minutes on the wing, though either Anthony or George likely will see some considerable time with the second unit.
Rookie Terrance Ferguson also could play on the wing.
And Donovan is likely to give some minutes to Kyle Singler, given his philosophy of keeping every player on the bench engaged with at least periodic playing time.
On Friday, Donovan said nine or 10 is “a good comfortable number” for a rotation, but he doesn’t see a reason to commit to Huestis, Ferguson or anyone else in the 10th spot, saying that could change night to night.
“I feel like obviously I played well this preseason,” Huestis said.
“I put in a lot of work in the offseason and I feel confident in my game right now. Whatever ends up happening in terms of minutes or opportunities, I know that I’ll be ready to step up and I’m confident that I’ll make the best of them.”
Pierce picks Thunder
The Golden State Warriors remain the overwhelming favorites to win the NBA championship, but one of the game’s newest talking heads sees the Thunder as a threat.
Paul Pierce, the former Celtics great who retired from the L.A. Clippers after last season, was asked on ESPN’s “The Jump” this week for a crazy prediction for this NBA season.
He picked the Thunder to win the title.
“I didn’t say your insane off-the-wall prediction,” host Rachel Nichols said.
“That’s not too off, now,” Pierce said. “Come on.”
Pierce said that “a lot of things can happen” in an NBA season and alluded to the possibility of injury derailing the Warriors. And he predicted the Thunder was more of a threat than the retooled Houston Rockets, who paired Chris Paul with James Harden this offseason.
“I think they’re gonna be a better playoff team,” Pierce said of the Thunder. “I think Houston will have a better regularseason record. I just think they’re better built for the playoffs.”