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Jeremy Lamb :

Lamb will suffer the most from the large rotation at the 2/3 guard. If Thabo's absence showed us anything last year, it was that Brooks doesn't trust Lamb in the starting 5 as Jones and Roberson split starts with Sef injured. Lambs mpg will be closer to the previous years playoff minutes rather then the regular season (9.1 and 19.7 respectively). With Andre being the defensive rebound grabber, Perry being the utility do it all (none of it exceptional), Morrow being brought in for offense and Reggie and Russ surely seeing some minutes at the 2, how does Lamb carve out some/any time?

BOLD Prediction : During the season Lamb is traded and starts getting more minutes. Initially, after the trade, Jeremy shows what we are all hoping he could put together in OKC, but his skinny frame and shaky confidence continue with 3 years under the belt and still no clue if Lamb can break through.

Really hope you're wrong about his minutes because he is the most talented SG on the roster..

I expect Lamb to get around 20 min a night again this year. I also expect him to increase his offensive efficiency. I don't think he will improve on defense. His defense isn't bad, but I think he will continue to gamble instead of playing more disciplined man defense. We expect some Reggie and Russ playing time. However, there are 144 minutes a night for the 1-3. I'm going to give 65 of them to KD and Russ leaving 79 to split between Reggie, Lamb, Morrow and PJ3. Morrow will get around 18 of those and Reggie around 25. That leaves 36 for Lamb and PJ3 to split. That means they can both play 18 minutes a night even under the assumption that KD will never play PF in a small ball lineup.

That is without giving anyone time off for injuries or just general wear and tear over a season. Morrow has only played 70 games once in his career so expect him to miss around 15 games. Collison and Perkins are getting old and will probably need a few games off due to some nagging injury like a sprained ankle, bruised shoulder, etc. Depending on the amount of small ball Brooks has them play Lamb could easily get 25 minutes a night off the bench with a rotation of something like:

KD- 34
Russ- 30
Ibaka- 30
Reggie- 25
Adams-25
Lamb- 20
PJ3-20
Morrow- 18
Collison- 15
Perkins- 10

With 13 minutes left for whoever Brooks wants to give some extra playing time to. Maybe Perkins gets 15 instead of 10. Maybe PJ3 gets to go 25 and Adams 30 a night. Maybe KD gets 38 and Russ 35. The point is there are plenty of minutes to go around for Lamb to get 20+ a night unless Brooks gives Roberson serious minutes. Lamb is almost the exact same player, FG%, 3pt% and all per 48min numbers except FT attempts as James Harden was after his 2nd season. Lamb has the ability to explode and be better than Harden was in his 3rd season this year because Lamb is a better defender and can be even better if he puts in the effort. Rather Lamb does that or not is completely up in the air at this point. However, he can easily force his way into a 25 minute a night role on this team, even if it is off the bench, if he has been putting in the work.

Roberson is why I don't think Lamb will get 20 minutes. I think he has the most potential, but has shown the least of his potential IMO. I hope he shows enough to get the 20 min a night. He and Reggie had a fun run to start last year.


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From watching summer league and Brooks's decisions last season, I can't argue with Lamb being the odd man out. I agree that he has the most potential to be a good SG, but that is mainly because none of the others really have any. They're all odd fits for the SG position. Roberson is a college PF and it shows in most phases of his game, PJ is a SF with very little ability to really translate to the SG position and Reggie is a PG - by his own and everyone else's admission. It's no shock that everyone sees Lamb as being the most likely to be a good true SG, but it isn't necessarily because of much that he has shown... it's just that he's really the only SG of the bunch.

wizkid27 wrote:From watching summer league and Brooks's decisions last season, I can't argue with Lamb being the odd man out. I agree that he has the most potential to be a good SG, but that is mainly because none of the others really have any. They're all odd fits for the SG position. Roberson is a college PF and it shows in most phases of his game, PJ is a SF with very little ability to really translate to the SG position and Reggie is a PG - by his own and everyone else's admission. It's no shock that everyone sees Lamb as being the most likely to be a good true SG, but it isn't necessarily because of much that he has shown... it's just that he's really the only SG of the bunch.

Yessir, and I think adding Lamb was one of the known pieces (not a future pick) in the trade kind of puts added fan hopes on Lamb as well.

wizkid27 wrote:Yessir, and I think adding Lamb was one of the known pieces (not a future pick) in the trade kind of puts added fan hopes on Lamb as well.

Lamb was still a 20 year old rookie who had never played in a NBA game when acquired. If they would have made the same trade on draft day and drafted Lamb do you think it would have made a difference? What kills me is that Lamb is equally valuable to Reggie, they had the same WS/48 last year, but Lamb plays a more premium position right now and Reggie is considered a huge stud while Lamb is some bum. Lamb's age 21 season was equal to Reggie's age 23 season. If Lamb takes a jump this year, even a small one, he will be a very good player for his age and role.

Yeah, I really REALLY want Lamb to show something tonight, would be huge for his confidence, and he showed at times last year he's capable. Looks like PJ starts tonight too. Hope it goes well.

Kizz Fastfists wrote:

wizkid27 wrote:Yessir, and I think adding Lamb was one of the known pieces (not a future pick) in the trade kind of puts added fan hopes on Lamb as well.

Lamb was still a 20 year old rookie who had never played in a NBA game when acquired. If they would have made the same trade on draft day and drafted Lamb do you think it would have made a difference? What kills me is that Lamb is equally valuable to Reggie, they had the same WS/48 last year, but Lamb plays a more premium position right now and Reggie is considered a huge stud while Lamb is some bum. Lamb's age 21 season was equal to Reggie's age 23 season. If Lamb takes a jump this year, even a small one, he will be a very good player for his age and role.

I may have poorly worded the 'known'. I meant Lamb was an assert with a name , opposed to the Raptors 1st rounder or Mavs first rounder. I would say Jeremy hasn't got a fair shake cause he was the first piece that was supposed to fill a need. Martin was clearly a rental. So no I don't think that(draft day trade / draft of lamb) would have mattered.

I think Reggie and Lamb are on very similar paths (similar summer leagues in the first few years). I remember Reggie could hardly dribble past half court if pressured at all...Lamb will get better, but in time for that to be on the Thunder?

He is making up for the poor game well, getting rebounds too.

He'll get plenty of opportunity to earn a big spot in the rotation now that KD is out for 2 months. Also, RJ is struggling with his wrist and will get some rest, opportunity knocks.

Lamb will solidify his position as the starting SG on this team this year as long as Brooks allows it to happen.

If KD was healthy, the starting lineup on opening night would have most likely been

Russ/Roberson/KD/Ibaka/Adams

but now that hes injured i hope brooks starts

Russ/Lamb/Roberson/Ibaka/Adams

and i think Lamb will play well enough to continue starting once KD is back.

nickforthreee wrote:but now that hes injured i hope brooks starts

Russ/Lamb/Roberson/Ibaka/Adams

and i think Lamb will play well enough to continue starting once KD is back.

I'd also hope for a lineup similar to that, but I wouldn't be surprised if Jones is the one starting instead of Lamb.

I like Lamb starting IF he will be aggressive. He got to the line well vs Dallas, if he is able to do that consistently, he and Andre at the 2/3 make sense. AND just maybe can bring Lamb outta his funk.


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Podirk wrote:I like Lamb starting IF he will be aggressive. He got to the line well vs Dallas, if he is able to do that consistently, he and Andre at the 2/3 make sense. AND just maybe can bring Lamb outta his funk.


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Not really sure I would say hes in a funk. he played just as good as RJ for the first few months of the season then had a little shooting slump like EVERY shooter in the NBA goes though and next thing you know hes benched for Butler. If Brooks would have let me ride it out though he shooting struggles he wouldnt have confidence issues which is bad for young players. not like Butler really did any better anyways.

Jeremy Lamb has a shot distribution that only works for elite shooters. Jeremy Lamb is not an elite shooter. The one thing Lamb really had to shore up this offseason was his 3pt shooting. He's not going to be a productive offensive player with a FTr < .200 and shooting ~35% from three point range. Just not going to happen. He's gotten some FTA this preseason which is nice (although preseason FTA isn't exactly translatable to the regular season..), but his shooting has looked worse than ever.

For me, he's second to last on my wing depth chart ahead of only Sebastian Telfair. I believe Perry Jones has way more utility than Lamb, since he's a terror on the fast break and is at least better than bad on the defensive end. I hope Jeremy figures it out, but this preseason has done nothing to rekindle the confidence in him that his hot shooting start last season engendered in OKC fans.

Hate to say it, but as of now I agree. He's shown little effort in some games defensively, despite steal totals, and has a .418 TS, good for 3rd worst on the team (w/ one behind him being Serge who played 1 game).

http://newsok.com/is-the-clock-ticking- ... le/5370214

Let the trade rumors begin!! or continue...

Tip of the hat to Lamb on the game tonight..increase that trade value


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