No Russell Westbrook, no problem. Dennis Schröder is a reasonable approximation, the only difference is that he’s not a stat-padder. Well, one of two differences. The other difference is that he’s not really interested in passing the ball (as if Westbrook would be if he didn’t have to do it to get triple-doubles). Schröder’s assist total on the night: 0. He took 19 shots, and passed to a completion not even once.
He’s been shoehorned into a PG role for most of his career, if not all of it, but it’s always felt like he wasn’t too interested in passing. He’ll do it, and he can conjure fancy dimes if he needs to, but what he really likes is scoring. All sorts of scoring. He’s not that great at it, but he loves it.
On the Thunder, his chances to chuck are greatly diminished. He was the man on a tanking team last year, which comes with all sorts of responsibility, but now he’s the fourth option? Third? Fifth? Anyway, not the first, not unless Westbrook is out and Paul George decides that he wants to take a game off. This worked against the Cavaliers, but would it work against any other team?