Griffin or Curry: Who should the Thunder take?
Being inside Lloyd Noble Center on Tuesday night was a treat.
Blake Griffin and Stephen Curry put on a show as promised. The Oklahoma big man and the Davidson sharp shooter are pre-season All-American, and both delivered on the hype in the Sooners’ narrow victory.
But as I watched the stars battle it out, I couldn’t help but think, “Which of these guys would look best in Thunder blue?”
Even though Curry is only a junior and Griffin is just a sophomore, both of these guys seem likely early-entry candidates for next year’s NBA Draft. And after almost a month of the NBA season, the Thunder seem a likely lottery candidate for that same draft. If it came down to Griffin or Curry, who should the Thunder take?
I say Griffin.
And it’s not because he’s a local guy either. That would just be a side benefit. No, I think Griffin’s the guy for a couple other reasons.
First of all, it’s difficult to know if the skills of a college shooter are going to translate into the pro game. J.J. Redick is one of the greatest shooters that the college game has ever known, but now that he’s in the NBA, he can hardly get off the bench.
Shooters have to be able to create their own shots in the NBA, and while I think Curry will be able to do that — the 44 points he scored Tuesday are evidence of that – we’ll never know until he’s trying to do it in the league. Getting your shot off against Tony Crocker and Austin Johnson is a little different than Chris Paul and Steve Nash.
Secondly, it seems like the Thunder’s money would be much more well spent on a reliable shooter. Go out and get a guy who is a proven commodity, who you know is going to be able to deliver.
And lastly, I think the Thunder would be better off picking Griffin instead of Curry because Griffin has all the ear-markings of being the next Carlos Boozer. All that guy does is score and rebound and defend and bring it every night. The Thunder could benefit from a guy like that.
Listen, if either Griffin or Curry were dropped in the Thunder’s lap, I suspect both would help this franchise. I just suspect Griffin could help them a little more.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Go OKC Potatoes!!!