It’s really hard to argue in favor of more minutes for Nerlens Noel, given that Steven Adams has a stranglehold on the center position in OKC and is having a great season. However, I would like to offer the following counterpoint: Nerlens Noel should be getting more minutes.
That’s not really a counterpoint, but that’s because I don’t have any solid reasons that, when combined, would form a solid counterpoint. Noel is a similar player to Adams, except he’s got a lot less meatage on his bones, and he doesn’t have the proven chemistry with Westbrook that Adams has. Noel flashing his jumpshooting ability in this game isn’t really an argument in favor of increasing his minutes given that his jumpshot looks kinda ugly and his range extends about as far as Adam’s floater range is.
Still, Noel needs more minutes. It’s that simple. Look at those dunks? Are you telling me that you don’t want more dunks like that? Are you telling me that Billy Donovan is unmoved by the graceful quality of those dunks, which provides a savory contrast to Adam’s powerful, yes, but also lumbering dunks? I seem to remember the “Noel at PF” experiment failing horribly when it was tried in Philadelphia, but we can try it again. Put Adams and Noel on the court at the same time and see how badly the team implodes. The team’s record would suffer, but my desire for Noel to get more minutes would be sated, and that’s really the important thing here.