Serge “Dirge” Ibaka: does he make the superstar duo of Durant and Westbrook into a “big three”? I’ve asked this before but the time is right to revisit the question.
If we’re trying to make a big three out of the Thunder roster, there’s not many other candidates for the third player. Enes Kanter is getting paid like he’s the third star, but he’s not getting enough minutes. Dion Waiters thinks he’s the third star, but we all know he isn’t. After that, the list gets even thinner, as the only other two guys who get enough minutes are both low-usage role players, Steven Adams and Andre Roberson. So, taking all that into account, the only player who could complete a big three on the Thunder would be the Ibaka Gaijin himself.
If you want my honest opinion, there may have been a big three in Oklahoma when Ibaka was averaging fifteen points per game. Bosh averaged around seventeen for most of his Heatles tenure and nobody would argue that wasn’t a big three. However, Ibaka’s scoring has gone down in the past few seasons, and defensive considerations don’t matter when constructing a big three, so as of right now, there is no big three in OKC.