Inside The Thunder

Thunder Summer League Journal: Theo Maledon Part 2

InsideTheThunder.com takes a closer look at Oklahoma City guard Theo Maledon's second Summer League performance.

Derek Parker

The Thunder ran out of gas on Wednesday night, falling to the Pelicans 80-65 in their second NBA Summer League game.

Oklahoma City bounced back following another slow first quarter, but couldn’t keep their foot on the pedal. Sixth overall selection Josh Giddey was out with a left ankle sprain.

After a strong performance in the first game against Detroit, second-year guard Theo Maledon struggled against New Orleans.

Box Score

Maledon reverted to his inefficient ways on Wednesday, shooting just 2-for-11 for five points.

Amongst players who took more than 300 shots in the 2020-21 season, Maledon ranked dead last in efficiency, shooting just 36.8 percent. There weren’t many expectations from the second round French rookie, but a jump in efficiency in year two will be pivotal.

One reason for Maledon’s inefficiency against the Pelicans was his extended range. He attempted seven 3-pointers, hitting on just one.

Play of the Game

There weren’t a lot highlight worthy plays from Maledon outside of some rock-solid defense, but a certain drive with plenty of contact took the cake.

Room For Improvement

There’s plenty of takeaways from Maledon’s performance.

Maledon is consistently looking to get his teammates involved, a great attribute to have, but sometimes to his own detriment. It caused his decision making to be iffy, and a bit of decisiveness could help his offensive game tremendously.

Other than that, having more NBA caliber players around him to thrive off should do wonders for his game.

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Derek Parker
DEREK PARKER

Derek is the Publisher for InsideTheThunder.com and Draft Digest for Fan Nation, powered by Sports Illustrated. He has been a sports writer in the Oklahoma City market for five years now, primarily covering the Oklahoma City Thunder and NBA Draft.

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