Russell Westbrook’s Injury Demonstrates the Importance of Depth Over Star Power

By Dan Schultz @DSchultz89 on October 31, 2014

The Oklahoma City Thunder were dealt yet another blow on Thursday night during a 93-90 loss at the hands of the Los Angeles Clippers when they lost Russell Westbrook in the second quarter to injury. After the game, head coach Scott Brooks announced that Westbrook had a fracture in his right hand and that he would be out indefinitely.

The Thunder were already without their reigning MVP, Kevin Durant, for at least two months, and losing Westbrook is an absolutely crippling, potentially season-ending blow.

When one considers the intense competition out West, where teams win almost 50 games and still miss the playoffs, it is tough to imagine the Thunder being in the mix for a playoff spot should Westbrook and Durant each miss a considerable part of the season.

The Thunder still have an All-Star caliber player in Serge Ibaka, but his strength is mainly playing off the penetration by both Westbrook and Durant and getting in position for wide-open mid-range jump shots. To put it simply, it is unfair to ask him to put the team on his back, but who else do the Thunder have to turn to?

If anything, this injury further demonstrates the importance of possessing depth over star power on a roster. The San Antonio Spurs, who beat the Thunder last year in the playoffs last year, absolutely obliterated the Miami Heat in the 2014 NBA Finals not because of the stars on their roster, but because role players like Patty Mills, Boris Diaw and Danny Green stepped up when they needed them to.

In 2012, the Thunder had Westbrook, Durant, Ibaka and James Harden on their team. Unfortunately, the front office decided to deal Harden at the start of the 2012-13 season when their ownership reportedly did not sign off on offering him a little bit more in order to keep a possible dynasty in the making together.

If Harden was still currently on their roster, a team led by him and Ibaka would definitely be considered good enough to make the playoffs, even in a crowded Western Conference. Instead, the Thunder traded Harden for a player they ended up losing in free agency the following year (Kevin Martin), a little-used prospect (Jeremy Lamb) and a pick that turned into a solid but still developing role player (Steven Adams).

The Thunder seemed fine this offseason sticking with their group of guys, even though many believed they should have added more depth to help take the load off Westbrook and Durant. Now, with both of these players out for some time, this might unfortunately prove to be another case of a team relying too much on their star players to guide them to a championship through Herculean efforts, instead of going perhaps a little over the luxury tax in order to improve their bench and overall supporting cast.

In the NBA, depth matters more than star power. When the coaching staff does a good job getting all their players to buy into their system, they feel more comfortable stepping up when asked to. The Thunder mainly depend on isolation sets and the one-on-one skills of Durant and Westbrook to anchor the team.

One thing is for certain: Brooks is in for the coaching challenge of his life this season, and it will be interesting to watch how he responds going forward in terms of how he utilizes the remaining players he has now. These last couple weeks have been brutal for the Thunder, and now it is up to Brooks to do his best to keep his team’s spirits up, while general manager Sam Presti looks to add much-needed depth to his squad if they hope to be in playoff contention this season.

Dan Schultz is an NBA sports writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @dschultz89. “Like” him on Facebook and add him on Google.