This is Damian Lillard’s fault. The Portland Trail Blazers made quick work of the Oklahoma City Thunder in their first-round playoff matchup with a 4-1 series win. Lillard dominated his point guard counterpart Russell Westbrook and closed out the series in Game 5 with a 50-point outing which included the game-winning, series-clinching 3-point shot at the buzzer. Now, the Thunder are out of the playoffs after a third-straight elimination in the first round.
Then again, their early exit from the playoffs after a promising regular season is also their fault. Or more specifically, Thunder GM Sam Presti’s fault. The Thunder needed more shooting and he didn’t address that with a trade, a free-agent signing or a pick up from the buyout market.
The Thunder can regroup with deft planning now that their season is over so quickly. To address their lack of scoring and shooting, among the names that the OKC brass should consider in free agency is the Philadelphia 76ers’ sharp-shooting guard J.J. Redick. Redick will be an unrestricted free agent in July after signing a one-year contract to re-sign with the Sixers. He could command a beginning salary of about $16 million in the 2019-20 season.
If the Sixers find it’s going to be too costly for them to keep their core of Redick, Ben Simmons, Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid intact, one of these five players could go. Redick is likely going to be the one to go if GM Elton Brand decides they can only keep four of them next season.
That’s where the Thunder can come in.
They have to dump some player salaries in the process as OKC is over the salary cap but Redick will be worth it. This past season, the 6-foot-4 shooting guard averaged 18.1 points per game in a star-studded lineup as he routinely found himself open for 3-pointers. A career 41.3 percent shooter, he shot 39.7 percent last year knocking down 3.2 shots from downtown on 8.0 shots per game. He also made 50.2 percent of his 2-point shots and 89.4 percent of his free throws.
During this year’s playoffs, it was clear that the Thunder had a difficult time scoring when the stakes were highest as evidenced by their 105.2-point average in the series. Only two players on their roster shot a respectable percentage from 3-point range, specifically Jerami Grant (45.0 percent) and Terrance Ferguson (38.9 percent). When the Blazers made their run to come back from 15 points down in the fourth quarter in Game 5, OKC needed buckets from players other than Westbrook and Paul George. Redick would have made some of the open shots generated by both players’ drives.
OKC was 16th in offensive rating at 109.8 in the regular season. They made up for being in the lower half of the league on offense by landing fourth in defensive rating at 106.4 overall. However, in the playoffs where points are harder to come by, a lack of shooting will kill you and that’s exactly what happened to the Thunder.
Back to their offense, OKC was tied with the Detroit Pistons for 12th in 3-point shooting at 33.1 percent, making only 10.4 of their 31.4 attempts. Interestingly, they shot an identical 33.1 percent from long distance in the playoffs which shows how much they need to shore up their 3-point shooting in the offseason.
Redick’s very specific skill set fits almost any and every team that has two or more superstars. His success is predicated on the opportunities given to him by the bigger names around him. Westbrook and George would certainly welcome his shooting. Pure shooters are a necessity especially at the two-guard spot. Redick can easily slide into that starting guard spot and take a lot of pressure off of the team’s stars.
If Presti can find a way to squeeze his salary next season, the Thunder will be much better from the opening tip of the 2018-19 season all the way to next year’s playoffs.
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