Thumbs up or down?
Patrick Patterson enjoys Oklahoma State Fair food, but how does he rate his first year with the Thunder?
Patrick Patterson considers himself a film connoisseur, so much so that he’s going after internships with movie production agencies this summer. Like basketball, Patterson knows his flicks.
When asked which movie should have won the Academy Award for “Best Picture” this year, the 29-year-old Thunder forward didn’t flinch, vouching for “Get Out” over actual winner “The Shape of Water.” Patterson doesn’t pull punches.
When asked at his exit interview what he made of his first season in Oklahoma City, Patterson tossed out a review that didn’t sound like a smash hit. The Thunder forward was disappointed in his first year in OKC, from his personal performance to involvement with the team.
“At the end of the day, it wasn’t what I expected,” Patterson said. “It wasn’t what my teammates and coaching staff expected, or even the fans.”
The Thunder knew the risk/reward factor of signing Patterson to a three-year, $16.4 million deal with its taxpayers mid-level exception. The deal was hailed throughout the media as a bargain for an unselfish player who improved five-man units for Toronto with his perimeter shooting and ability to defend multiple positions. Yet, Patterson was coming off a season with the Raptors in which he wasn’t the same player after suffering a left knee injury in December 2016.
What the Thunder didn’t know was it would trade for Carmelo Anthony two days before training camp.
Based on the recovery time from his arthroscopic knee surgery in August, Patterson wasn’t going to be ready for preseason, anyway. Anthony was a more potent option on offense in terms of raw scoring.
What Patterson was when acquired was a much-lighter version of Billy Donovan’s model frontcourt piece. The same way former Donovan disciple Al Horford has filled a multitude of roles for Boston the last two seasons — expanding his game to 3-point range, switching from defending centers to guards seamlessly in the same possession, acting as a 6-foot-10 offensive
facilitator at either power forward or a smallball center — Donovan thought he had a semblance of that in Patterson.
It never got off the ground. While Patterson was the only Thunder player to appear in all 82 games and was second behind Paul George in 3-point percentage (38.6 percent), he averaged career lows in field goal percentage, points, rebounds, assists and minutes per game.
“There’s a lot of room and growth for Patterson,” Thunder general manager Sam Presti said. “I think he’s a guy that we certainly can get more from. That’s something we have to look to going forward.”
Part of the issue was the insistence on Anthony’s
minutes with the starters at power forward. Donovan never played Patterson consistent minutes with Steven Adams, Paul George, Andre Roberson and Russell Westbrook, which was the initial projected starting lineup before Anthony’s arrival. Those starters with Patterson at power forward played just eight minutes together all season, outscoring opponents by 1.7 points per 100 possessions.
Some of that can be attributed to Roberson’s season-ending knee injury in January. Some has to do with Patterson’s health. Some has to do with the effectiveness of the starters — with Anthony, the Thunder’s standard five-man unit outscored opponents by 14.2 points per 100
possessions, No. 2 in the NBA among lineups which played 300 minutes or more.
The Thunder was 22-8 when Patterson played more than 16 minutes a game. With doubts about Anthony’s future in Oklahoma City, Patterson may get an opportunity to expand his role and minutes in Year 2.
“What did I make of my first season here?,” Patterson said, asking the question back during his exit interview.
“At the end of the day, if I could sum it up in one word ... ‘entertaining.’”
The Thunder and Patterson hopes the sequel gets better reviews.
This is the second in a 15day series looking at the Thunder’s roster entering the offseason.