Oklahoma City Thunder's Thabo Sefolosha altered series vs. San Antonio Spurs ... - Tucson Citizen

Oklahoma City Thunder’s Thabo Sefolosha altered series vs. San Antonio Spurs like Phoenix Suns envisioned

by Paul Coro on Jun. 07, 2012, under Arizona Republic News

As entertaining as the NBA conference finals have been, the viewing can be an excruciating experience for Suns fans who relive franchise mistakes.

There is Rajon Rondo, the point guard deemed too small and too poor of a shooter in 2006 to help the Suns immediately. He was traded to save money (Boston took retiring Brian Grant’s contract) toward trying to keep Tim Thomas (they did not).

There is Serge Ibaka, drafted by Oklahoma City in 2008 with the Suns’ pick. Phoenix dealt that choice and its 2010 first-round pick (eh, Craig Brackins) so that Sam Presti would take Kurt Thomas’ contract and ease the Suns’ luxury tax burden.

There is Mickael Pietrus, bought out in December to stay away at Suns players’ request. He has been a good defensive option on LeBron James and Dwyane Wade (as long as they don’t pump-fake) and scored 13 in Game 5 after making one shot in the series’ first four games (even though Kevin Garnett twice had to pull his arm to join huddles Tuesday).

The near-miss to see in the West series that couldn’t be faulted for lack of effort is Thabo Sefolosha. Oklahoma City’s move to switch Sefolosha onto Tony Parker in Game 3 is credited for turning the series, especially when Sefolosha unexpectedly added 19 points in that game too.

In a Shawn Marion/Grant Hill sort of way, Sefolosha offered Oklahoma City the option of putting athletic length and size on the point guard.

Sefolosha, a 2009-10 All-Defensive Second team selection, has proven to be exactly the kind of defender the Suns projected him to be when they pursued acquiring him hard during the 2006 draft. The Suns offered three first-round picks or two first-round picks and cash to Chicago and Seattle for each of their top-10 picks. Seattle, ironically the franchise that wound up trading for Sefolosha in 2009, passed on the Suns’ offer and took eventual bust Saer Sene with the 10th pick.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 7th, 2012 at 11:47 am and is filed under Arizona Republic News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.