A few weeks ago this would have seemed a longshot, now it seems logical.
Thunder coach Scott Brooks is very wed to his starting five — for evidence see Kendrick Perkins — and the defensive minded Thabo Sefolosha was part of that. But needing more offense against the San Antonio Spurs Brooks benched Sefolosha and started Reggie Jackson — and it worked the Thunder offense was improved. The defense struggled when he was switched onto Kawhi Leonard but that wasn’t about Jackson so much as what the Spurs do well.
Jackson got a taste of starting and wants to keep doing it, he said at his exit interview, as reported by Royce Young at Daily Thunder.So, Brooks, how about that? Willing to change your starting rotation?
“Positions are available,” he said. “I can say that….
“I hate to put myself in that position (keeping Jackson in starting five) because who knows what will happen over the summer … [Reggie] can play both positions, as can Russ. They can play together, that was proven in this series.”
The other factor here is Sefolosha is a free agent. He has never been a scorer but he has been a long, quality defender who on offense was a threat as a spot-up three point shooter… until this season. He shot just 31.6 percent from three. In 2013 he shot 46 percent on corner threes, in 2014 34 percent. You can’t be a “3 and D” player without the three, and he was this season.
The Thunder may not bring him back. OKC is not in a position to easily make a lot of roster changes — they are over the cap at $68 million even without a new Sefolosha contract. This is a small market team not spending way over the cap and any moves they make are more likely to be trades, or just counting on internal improvement.
Counting more on Jackson. It seems a smart move. He’s earned a starting spot.