5 Adjustments That OKC Thunder Need To Make To Be A True Contender

#4 Improve Their Bench Units

The Oklahoma City Thunder introducing Raymond Felton and Patrick Patterson (Image courtesy: nba.com)

Having the league's top assist-giver on your team is normally a reason for a player's shooting percentage to go up, but that has not been the case this season with many of the Thunder's role players.

Alex Abrines, Andre Roberson and Patrick Patterson, who are the Thunder's primary 3-and-D options, are all shooting below their career averages from beyond the arc. Patterson is, in fact, shooting about 10% below, which is part of the reason why the Thunder, despite being one of the best first-quarter teams, regularly falls behind their opponents in the middle portions of the game.

While Jerami Grant has never been a reliable spot-up shooter, getting the bulk of his points in the paint, rookie Terrance Ferguson has been a complete non-factor - unable to crack the rotation.

Raymond Felton's drive-and-kick game can only yield so many points for the Thunder, who are in sore need for a reliable scorer from their second unit.