Being Effective Despite Lack Of Size At Center

Even before the season-ending injury that Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren suffered, Oklahoma City’s center depth was thin. With him out of the lineup for the entire 2022-23 campaign, the Thunder will be playing with small lineups.

With that in mind, this isn’t a new challenge for Oklahoma City, after playing most of last season without a true center that got significant minutes.

Rolling out smaller bigs does pose potential problems on the defensive end, but can actually open things up offensively. Especially with the perimeter-oriented style of play in the modern NBA, Oklahoma City did show flashes of success with smaller lineups last season.

The primary players that were effective for the Thunder last season as undersized centers were Darius Bazley and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. They both stand at 6-foot-9, which is quite a bit shorter than many of the starting centers across the league.

Outside of those two, Oklahoma City also gave minutes to veteran bigs Mike Muscala and Derrick Favors. The Thunder recently traded away Favors, which only thins the depth at that position. However, they did draft center Jaylin Williams early in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft.

When being asked about what the center rotation would look like this season, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault alluded to the position being filled by committee. Rather than just one or two players filling most of those minutes, the team will roll out a variety of lineups and try different things.

“The five position is going to be fluid this year and that will have a trickle down,” said Daigneault.

Again, Oklahoma City will most certainly run into issues this season with dominant centers on the defensive end. Of the four players that will likely get the majority of the center minutes, none are 7-footers.

• Jeremiah Robinson-Earl: 6’9”
• Darius Bazley: 6’9”
• Jaylin Williams: 6’10”
• Mike Muscala: 6’11”

Furthermore, Williams is a rookie that will need quite a bit of time to adjust to the NBA game and Muscala is more of a finesse, floor-spacing big. As such, it will likely be Robinson-Earl and Bazley who fill most of the center minutes. In fact, last season’s lineup that played the most minutes included those two as a forward and center duo.

They should each get a ton of court time this season, both together in the frontcourt and individually as a center alongside another teammate. How can they be effective focal points of the center rotation despite being smaller than most at that position?

Despite being an undersized frontcourt, Bazley thinks there’s some advantages to being a smaller center as it relates to flexibility.

“With me at the five defensively, sometimes you might have a center that you might want to use drop coverage, I’m able to switch,” said the 22-year-old. “I think those are some of the advantages. With me being like-sized, being long enough to defend them down low and then defensively just being able to switch on screens.’’

Bazley really emerged on that end of the floor last season, taking on tough defensive assignments. Whether it was going up against a shot-making wing or a versatile big, he was extremely effective as a defender. He emerged as one of the most disciplined shot blockers in the league and actually finished the season with more blocks than fouls.

Robinson-Earl also proved effective on the defensive end last season at center, possessing a unique combination of strength and mobility. He’s got the frame to hold his own defensively in the paint, but is also laterally quick and capable of guarding on the perimeter.

On offense, this smaller center rotation could actually be a challenge for opposing defenses. The ability to space the floor and play a bit more positionless will only open the floor for drivers like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey.

While these Thunder centers do give up height and weight to many of the players they’re going up against, they typically counter that with speed, quickness and versatility. Bigger, more traditional centers generally struggle defending on the perimeter, which Oklahoma City can exploit.

Robinson-Earl recently gave his thoughts on the advantages of being undersized are on the offensive end.

“Being able to stretch the floor. Being able to use more skill, footwork and quickness instead of being able to bang with those big, strong guys out there,” said Robinson-Earl.

As a rookie, the Villanova product was a great positional shooter, converting on 35.2% of his 3-point attempts. Having bigs that can space the floor is a key advantage for a team in the modern NBA.

Bazley’s thought process is along the same lines as Robinson-Earl, mentioning being smaller actually has its advantages on offense.

“I think it’s kinda just stuff I possess that they don’t,” Bazley said. “Like with my size and theirs, maybe I’m just quicker than another guy. That’s usually what it is, just being quicker or more mobile.”

When the regular season kicks off in just over two weeks, the Thunder frontcourt will be tested immediately as they’ll take on the Minnesota Timberwolves twice in the first three games of the season. As such, the inexperienced, small OKC frontcourt will go up against a team that starts two true centers in Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert.

While the team could struggle this season defensively against some bigs, there’s a potential advantage on the offensive end. Longer term, Holmgren should completely change the landscape of the rotation upon his return. Additionally, there’s quite a bit of center talent in the 2023 NBA Draft, where Oklahoma City could further bolster its center depth and overall team height.