While some young players battle to earn minutes on the court the OKC Thunder shooting guard Terrance Ferguson ended up finding his role vastly increased due to the injury of Andre Roberson. That’s not to imply he didn’t earn his minutes or improve his game. He did. If not for his defensive improvements and concerted effort to increase his perimeter efficiency his role in the starting rotation wouldn’t have been a certainty.
Billy Donovan could just as easily have moved Paul George to the shooting guard, moved Jerami Grant to the small forward and started Patrick Patterson at the power forward.