McHale says Patterson’s defense a boost for OKC
When he played for Kevin McHale, Patrick Patterson expanded his offense.
The Thunder’s new power forward — who this week agreed to a three-year, $16.4 million contract — upped his scoring under McHale in Houston and stretched his shooting range. But that’s not what his former coach remembers most.
“After you’ve been with him for a while, you go, ‘This cat wants to win. This dude wants to win,’” McHale, now a Turner NBA analyst, said in a phone interview Thursday. “Believe me, in our league, those dudes are getting more rare and more rare.”
The 6-foot-9 Patterson’s skill as a team defender — his understanding of help and rotations — will benefit Thunder stars Russell Westbrook and Paul George, McHale said.
When the Thunder’s perimeter defenders are guarding the ball, McHale said, Patterson will rotate — three feet, five feet, eight feet if he needs to — to present a roadblock to getting into the paint.
“Then for the guy with the ball, there’s no driving room,” McHale said. “He just passes it. It takes pressure off your perimeter guys when your bigs understand plugging and being in the right spot and presenting their body and not allowing the perimeter (offensive) guys to see a wide-open pasture and think, ‘I’m gonna drive there for sure.’”
Patterson will help the Thunder “in a million different little subtle ways,” McHale said.
He did that for the Rockets when McHale coached him in the 2011-12 season and for the first 47 games of 2012-13 before Patterson was traded to the Sacramento Kings. Patterson’s second season under McHale was his third in the NBA, and he stretched his shot to 3-point range that year in Houston and Sacramento.
But for McHale, who encouraged Patterson to keep shooting 3-pointers as long as he could hit a league-average percentage, what stood out was Patterson’s mindset, saying that “whatever his agenda is, it’s his team winning the game that night.”
“He’s just fantastic at all little areas of the game,” McHale said. “He’s a guy that, when you put him out there, you just know that your defense is gonna improve. He’s always in the right place. I can’t say enough good things about him.”
George trade official
The Thunder on Thursday made its acquisition of Paul
George official, announcing the trade it agreed to last week that sent forward
Domantas Sabonis and guard Victor Oladipo to Indiana for the four-time All-Star.
In a release, Thunder general manager Sam Presti called George “a tremendous fit for our organization on and off the floor” and said “his skill set is dynamic and at the forefront of the evolution of the game.”
Last season, George averaged a career-high 23.7 points per game. He’s averaged 18.1 points in his seven-season career, he’s averaged 18.1 points. The 6-foot-9 small forward provides a big wing scoring option that OKC lacked last season after Kevin Durant left for the Golden State Warriors in free agency.
Neither Patterson nor free agent Andre Roberson — who on Wednesday agreed to a three-year, $30 million contract to stay with the Thunder — signed on Thursday.
The Thunder is expected to hold news conferences to introduce George and Patterson, though no timetable has been announced.
Thunder wraps summer league 2-3
The Thunder wrapped up summer league play Thursday in Orlando with its third consecutive loss, 89-80 to Indiana.
Depleted by defections to the Las Vegas Summer League, the Thunder placed five players in double figure scoring, led by Semaj Christon’s 21 points. Josh Huestis added 16 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
Daniel Hamilton, the Thunder’s 2016 second-rounder, had the best all-around game with 12 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.
OKC wrapped up summer league with three of its key players missing the final two days to go play in Las Vegas for other summer league squads. It resulted in more minutes for the starters in the final game of the weeklong circuit. Christon and Hamilton combined for 13 turnovers in the loss. Summer League coach
Mark Daigneault said the hardest part about summer league isn’t the balance between winning games and development, but pushing players to the brink of failure.
“Usually when you’re asking guys to do what they’re good at, you’re gonna win games,” Daigneault said. “But they have to get on the edge of their comfort zone. If they succeed, you’ve nudged them forward; if they fail then they fail really close to what they’re trying to do.
“That’s the sweet spot, They’re on the brink of failure, but they have to remain confident.”