Basketball fans in the state of Oklahoma had two rooting interests this summer: the Oklahoma City Thunder winning the NBA Title. Check. And Oklahoma one-and-done star Jeremiah Fears being selected early in the first round of this week’s NBA Draft. The only problem is that those two things might be in direct conflict because OKC’s championship blueprint doesn’t include an undersized guard with defensive limitations.
Thunder general manager Sam Presti led the franchise from a 22-win season in 2020-21 and a 24-win season in 2021-22 to a 68-win season and an NBA title three years later because of his investment in positional size, playmaking, and defensive versatility. The Thunder finished their playoff run 11th in rebounding rate, 12th in defensive rebounding rate, 11th in assist percentage, and 13th out of 16 teams in three-point percentage, but first -- by a wide margin -- in defensive rating, steals per game, and deflections per game.
The Thunder hold the 15th and 24th picks in the first round of Wednesday night’s NBA Draft, with rumors that they may be looking to trade up, but if I had to guess, that trade almost certainly wouldn’t be for Fears. The Thunder’s title came a year after the Boston Celtics, with sturdy point of attack defenders at guard and versatile, disruptive wings, won it all. Roster construction in all sports is cyclical, and right now, defense is in vogue.
Jeremiah Fears' profile doesn't fit today's NBA trends
NBA offenses have never been more efficient, and in some ways, they’ve never been simpler, especially in the postseason. Almost always, the No. 1 objective for any team on the offensive end of the floor is to hunt the weak link defensively by forcing a switch in pick-and-roll, and small guards are the usual prey. It happened to Jalen Brunson in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Pacers did it to Darius Garland in the second round, and frankly, the Celtics hunted Luka Doncic so much in the 2024 NBA Finals that Nico Harrison pulled the trigger on the most perplexing trade in NBA history.
Fears certainly will never reach Luka's level as a scorer, and even if he reaches his ceiling as an offensive player, developing a reliable three-point shot to pair with his explosive first step that allows him to get anywhere on the court and instinctual playmaking ability, will still have a massive target on his back on the defensive end of the floor. And that's another question altogether: what value does Fears have if he doesn't shoot it at a high level?
The talented freshman led the Sooners with 17.1 points a game, but shot just 28.4 percent from beyond the arc. His 16.7 percent mark on corner threes is an even more concerning number as it relates to his ability to play off the ball at the next level. Fears was at his best as a high-usage creator and there are teams at the top of the draft that would be willing to hand him the keys on that end early in his career, but as that team matures into a playoff contender, his defensive limitations as a small guard may have them hitting their head on the ceiling of their roster much quicker than expected.
It's never been a bad idea to build a physical and switchable defensive team, but the spacing of the modern NBA may necessitate it more than ever. The style of the NBA hasn't been entirely homogenized, but five-out basketball is so prevalent and perimeter skill development begins so early, even for big men, that there's nowhere to hide on the defensive end. If everybody can shoot, then everybody has to defend.
The Thunder (and the Celtics last year) didn’t have a defensive weak link. Even Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the MVP and league’s leading scorer, stands 6-foot-6 with a 6-foot-11 wingspan and more than enough athleticism to hold up in isolation. Fears measured at just over 6-foot-2 barefoot at the NBA Combine with about a 6-foot-5 wingspan and weighed in at 179 pounds.
In Game 7, Cason Wallace was the only player on the Thunder under 6-foot-4 to see the court, and Wallace has about 15 pounds and three inches of wingspan on Fears. He's such a quality on-ball defender that on a team with Lu Dort and Alex Caruso, there are times that Wallace draws the toughest defensive assignment.
There will certainly be a team that bites on the potential of Fears as a primary initiator on the offensive end, and likely even in the top 10, but as the Thunder advanced further and further in the NBA Playoffs and pushed the league’s ethos further toward building versatile defensive juggernauts, it may have indirectly impacted the state’s other basketball rooting interest.