By JOHN E. HOOVER Sports Columnist on Dec 27, 2012, at 2:02 PM Updated on 12/27 at 2:02 PM
Scott Brooks said the relationship couldn’t be any more ideal. So far, the Oklahoma City Thunder coach is right.
When Brooks wants his bench players to get some more floor time, he simply sends them up the Turner Turnpike to Tulsa, where they get important minutes with the 66ers.
It really is a perfect setup. A 100-minute drive from downtown OKC and players who almost never get on the floor for the Thunder are passing and shooting and dribbling and defending and rebounding in a real game at the SpiritBank Event Center in Bixby.
But a reader asked a provocative question today: is all that movement disruptive or distracting to the coaches and players who are on the 66ers’ NBA D-League roster? Is it a difficult coaching scenario to have changes made almost daily to your roster by the parent club?
Probably so.
But the reality is that the 66ers would have no purpose at all if not for the Thunder. The team is, after all, in the NBA’s “Development” League. Like baseball’s minor league system, any team success or team failure or team chemistry at the minor league level is irrelevant to the club’s primary purpose: development of players.
On Thursday, the Thunder assigned Perry Jones III, DeAndre Liggins and Daniel Orton to the 66ers.
This seems like something players would enjoy. They are living the good life in the NBA, but unless Brooks decides to play what seems like a hunch, guys outside the Thunder’s top eight or nine almost never get to play. Mop-up duty lacks true intensity. With the NBA’s 82-game schedule, practice is no place for young players to showcase themselves. How else, then, does a reserve player ever get time to develop his game — especially on a club that has the NBA’s second-best record — if it’s not in the D-League?
Jones, Liggins and Orton likely will play two games at Canton, Ohio, on Friday and Saturday. It’s a formula that’s worked well for the Thunder so far. Reserve guard Reggie Jackson played a game for the 66ers, had a big night, was immediately recalled and contributed to victory in the Thunder’s next game. Same thing happened with wingman Jeremy Lamb.
In three games with the 66ers, Jackson is averaging 28 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists in 38 minutes per game. In seven games, Lamb is averaging 23 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 36 minutes. Liggins in five games averages 11.6 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 36 minutes. Jones has played four games and is averaging 11.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists. And in nine games, Orton averages 11.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game.
Clearly, you don’t get that kind of development sitting on the bench waving towels for Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
And for the Thunder’s purposes, losing to the Miami Heat Tuesday for the fifth time in a row revealed some weaknesses — primarily OKC’s big-man lineup — that, come playoff time, perhaps players like Liggins (a muscular 6-foot-6 guard) and Orton (a strong 6-foot-10 post man) can shore up.
But only if they’re developed between now and then.
The 66ers make it easy for Brooks, general manager Sam Presti and the Thunder to assign and recall players. Only 11 NBA teams have an exclusive D-League club. Nineteen NBA squads share their D-League affiliation with other teams.
And such good proximity isn’t that easy to come by, either.
The Santa Cruz Warriors are about 2 ½ hours from Sacramento. The Maine Red Claws are two hours up the coast from Boston in Portland. The Austin Toros are about 90 minutes from their parent club, San Antonio. The Canton Charge is just over an hour from Cleveland. The Texas Legands in Frisco are only 40 minutes away from Dallas’ American Airlines Arena.
The NBA’s best D-League setup is in Los Angeles, where the Defenders’ home — the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo — is less than 30 minutes from the Staples Center.
The Fort Wayne Mad Ants are two hours or so from Indianapolis, but also serve Charlotte, Detroit and Milwaukee. The Bakersfield Jams are some two hours from the L.A. Clippers, but also serve Atlanta, Phoenix and Toronto. The rest of the D-League teams are no closer than a five-hour drive from their parent club, which, in pro sports, becomes a flight. Many affiliations cross multiple time zones.
The OKC-Thunder partnership, then, is perfect.
As part of last year’s collective bargaining agreement, NBA teams now can assign players with three years of service or less an unlimited number of times. So expect more moves the rest of the season.
Yes, the 66ers’ chemistry will be disrupted. Sorry, but that’s the name of the game. As long as guys like Orton and Liggins are getting big minutes, that’s what’s important.
And it could be huge. Brooks and the Thunder now move forward with the knowledge that an NBA championship might be possible — they might be able to beat Miami in a series — with better play from their big lineup.
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