Well, this was bound to happen. There's no news on how it happened as of yet, but it was speedily tweeted by Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman. (This is why I hate Twitter....it gives you no information.) UPDATE: Jessica Lantz tells me, "it happened on a weird foul toward the end of the first half. He was noticably grimmacing after the play and before he went to the line (with a timeout in between). Walking around, kinda limping, etc. I don't believe he played in the 2nd half & I'm pretty sure that's the play that did it..."
Aside from the loss of Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook, this is one of the worst injuries we could have possibly gotten. James Harden is our only scorer off of the bench, and our swingman lineup is pretty thin.As of right now, the Thunder have 3 Options to fill the void:
1. Throw Antonio Anderson into the fire.
This is a risky option, but probably the one the Thunder will take. Anderson was an on and off scorer for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, and a James Harden injury is precisely the reason the thunder would bring a guy like Anderson in. His recent results have been less than promising, but it's hard to judge a guy on just one garbage-time performance.
2. Play Both Kevin Ollie and Eric Maynor in a dual-PG lineup.
This is the second most likely option. Eric Maynor would have to be converted into a scorer for this to work, and that's the main roadblock this solution faces. It would also leave the lineup a bit undersized at times, leaving our exterior defense vulnerable.
3. Call Up Kyle Weaver from the D-League.
This is probably a fall back plan. The Thunder can only call up a player from the D-League so many times, and they might not be willing to do so in this case. He would have to start after tonight's game against the Nets unless he got to Oklahoma City really fast, and it would leave our guards very offenseless. Weaver can score better than Sefolosha, but that's not saying much. In the end, it would leave our team pretty flawed. I'd only expect to see Weaver out there if the prior two plans go drastically wrong or if Sefolosha, his counterpart, goes down at any time. The offensive/defensive balance must be kept in check.
The situation will have tabs kept on it through tonight's game.
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