Aday Mara has been stealing the headlines in Oklahoma City this preseason.
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s latest lottery pick has been showing out, dominating the competition with his impressive array of high-post passing, surprisingly advanced scoring ability, and staunch rim deterrence. But he hasn’t been the only rookie surpassing expectations. OKC’s second pick of the first round, Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz, has been raining in 3s and looking prepared for an immediate role in the NBA.
His best performance of the preseason so far came in OKC’s Oct. 12 game against Atlanta. Stirtz showed off a lot of the skills that made him a top-20 pick in the NBA Draft, in that game, one on which he dropped in 26 points on 66% shooting from 3-point range. In his other two appearances, Stirtz has scored 15 points on 50% 3-point shooting and 20 points on 57% from 3.
He dominated Hawks defenders as a pick-and-roll ball-handler, commonly finding Mara on lobs and also pulling the ball back for 3s on multiple occasions. This part of Stirtz’s performance isn’t particularly surprising. A lot of Stirtz’s college success came in situations like this, which made him a unique prospect due to his refined pick-and-roll game. He spent all four years of his college career as his team’s primary engine, with two years coming at Northwest Missouri State, one coming at Drake and one coming at Iowa, where he led the Hawkeyes to the Elite 8.
As he transitions to the NBA, his role as an on-ball creator will naturally shrink. For the first time in his career, Stirtz isn’t going to be the best on-ball option. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell representing one of the NBA’s three best on-ball trios, Stirtz’s reps as the primary creator will be limited.
So, while that part of his game, specifically his pick-and-roll efficiency, is impressive and gives Stirtz a high floor, it’s one of the less meaningful developments of his solid preseason play.
What has been meaningful is his 3-point shooting, both the volume of the 3s he’s shooting and how he’s getting those looks.
Stirtz has been good and aggressive in seeking catch-and-shoot opportunities, which is a point of emphasis and a swing factor in how much he may be able to get on the court as a rookie.
In his one season at Iowa, Stirtz only took 65 catch-and-shoot 3-point attempts. On those, he shot 49%, but the volume was low enough to raise concerns about whether it would translate with a deeper 3-point line against better athletes. So far in the preseason, it has, and that unlocks a new world in which Stirtz can immediately fit into the Isaiah Joe role.
With Joe gone and Aaron Wiggins out the door as well, the Thunder has two spots for 3-point-centric, score-first players to slot into. OKC has no shortage of options, with Jared McCain, Ajay Mitchell, Stirtz, and Cason Wallace all on the shortlist of players who could see a significant increase in offensive roles.
But, to me, the offseason plan has been clear for a while now.
Mitchell plays more minutes and takes on an expanded offensive role, Wallace fills in a lot of the gaps Lu Dort left behind, McCain plays an increased Wiggins role with more minutes and Stirtz is given the first crack at doing a lot of what Joe did as he emerged as one of OKC’s best shooters.
With Stirtz’s ability on the ball, he has a chance to become more than Joe, who was used as a catch-and-shoot threat for most of his time in OKC, although he did develop a pull-up midrange shot during his final year with the team. Stirtz is already there from the midrange and is a better playmaker than Joe. It remains to be seen if he can be as elite a shooter as Joe was, but the opportunity is there for Stirtz to slot into his minutes and present more challenges for the defense.
The path to a year-one role is clear for Stirtz. If his catch-and-shoot flashes are consistent and he can size his game down into a smaller role, he could end up as an important spacing piece for OKC immediately as a rookie, just like we’ve seen guys like Wallace and Jalen Williams under Mark Daigneault.
