With Serge Ibaka off to Orlando, a common thought has been that Ersan Ilyasova, a career 37-percent 3-point shooter, would be the heir to Ibaka’s role as the “stretch four” who can shoot 3-pointers from the power forward position.
Billy Donovan sees the Thunder having more options than just Ilyasova, among them newcomers Joffrey Lauvergne and Domantas Sabonis, and even Enes Kanter. While it was a small sample size, Kanter hit 10-of-21 (47.6 percent) 3-point attempts last season.
“Some of it is giving a player confidence that you believe as a coach in them that this is something that they can do,” Donovan said, emphasizing the work Thunder assistant Mark Bryant has put in with Kanter of the past two seasons.