Can OKC get a two-way player at the deadline?
The Golden State Warriors have become the next blueprint in constructing an NBA champion, a team built around multiple players who can effectively shoot from range and defend multiple positions.
“Two-way” players have always been valuable in the NBA, but never more so than today with 3-pointers being shot at a higher rate than ever before. The Thunder has long sought a permanent two-way option at shooting guard, but it won’t come easily before Thursday’s trade deadline.
Two-way perimeter players are at a premium. ESPN.com uses a statistic to measure a player’s impact per 100 possessions called “real plus-minus,” which is a combination of a player’s offensive and defensive real-plus minus. Among the league’s shooting guards and small forwards, only a combined 36 have a positive RPM.
Of those 36 players, only 16 have a positive RPM on both offense and defense: Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, Jae Crowder, Andre Iguodala, Jared Dudley, Omri Casspi, Tobias Harris, Otto Porter Jr., Jimmy Butler, Manu Ginobili, Tyreke Evans, Nicolas Batum and Victor Oladipo.
The Thunder already
has Durant, but several of the players listed come with catches. Some are franchise centerpieces who aren’t going anywhere (Leonard, James, George, Butler), veterans who are key parts of sizzling hot teams (Ginobili, Iguodala), or players who would be hard to acquire because of salary/fit (Anthony). Some are injured (Evans). Some are young core players (Harris, Oladipo) on teams that will expect a lot — be it players or draft picks — to complete a deal.
Perhaps the best place to mine for a two-way option before the trade deadline is via a team out of the postseason race. Philadelphia’s 6-foot-9 small forward Robert Covington has been in trade rumors throughout the season. While he ranks among the league’s best in defensive RPM at his position (1.88, fifth among small forwards), the 25-year-old is shooting just 33.8 percent on 3s, 37.8 percent overall.
Covington is just one example of a player who’s struggled shooting on a lottery-bound team. Would a change of scenery — particularly playing alongside Durant and Russell Westbrook — enhance the shooting of Covington, Phoenix’s P.J. Tucker (40.5 FG pct/34.6 3-point FG) or Portland’s Gerald Henderson (42 FG pct/36.5 3-point FG)?
Or Memphis’ Lee? The eight-year veteran started slowly this season but has bumped his shooting up to 45.8 percent, 37 percent from 3-point range. Lee is 15th among shooting guards in RPM (0.13) and in the final season of his contract, making $5.675 million.
“I really don’t think that far ahead. It’s a business, anything can happen, and for myself, I’ve already been traded a couple of times,” Lee, 30, told The Oklahoman in January when asked about his future in Memphis. “Where I’m at right now, I’m on the Memphis Grizzlies this year and I just want to go out and play as hard as possible.”
The Grizzlies are another club at a crossroads. Center Marc Gasol (right foot) is out indefinitely, and Memphis entered the season with the second-oldest roster in average age (29.4), but the Grizzlies have the fifthbest record in the Western Conference.
The West’s three-team gauntlet of Warriors, Spurs and Thunder, along with Cleveland and Toronto looking like East frontrunners, might prompt trades from teams currently in position to make the postseason. Batum and Charlotte are a half-game ahead of the Pistons for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Dudley and Porter Jr. play for the Wizards, three games out of the East race. Casspi’s Kings are 4.5 games behind Utah for the West’s No. 8 seed. Will the Celtics part with Crowder, their third-leading scorer, when they’re third in the Eastern Conference?
With their two-way players in high demand, teams have to choose whether to go for the postseason or press reset. It’s an added layer to the Thunder’s trade deadline pursuits.
“When you’re trying to make a deal around the deadline that increases your chances to win or enhances your position in the playoffs, I think that’s a much tougher decision,” NBA TV analyst and former NBA general manager Stu Jackson told The Oklahoman. “When you’re deciding to basically dismantle your team and redirect your future, I think that decision, I’ve always felt, is more clearcut.”