National Basketball Association

Kyle Singler: Should Sam Presti Consider Cutting the Small Forward?

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Kyle Singler has been anything but productive since signing a 5-year deal with Oklahoma City in the summer of 2015. Is it time for his tenure to end in the Midwest?

Kyle Singler is regarded as one of the worst players in the NBA; through two preseason games he has done nothing to change that narrative. That’s right! He was so awful in Game One that he earned a DNP in Game Two of the Global Games.

Gotta be the fact that Kyle Singler some how got worse over the offseason https://t.co/oS764DjYAv

— Tony Heim (@tony_heim) October 7, 2016

Normally I hate tearing apart professional athletes. These guys put their bodies through hell and they would beat me and all of you 21-0 in a game of one-on-one. Singler is a great basketball player; he is not a great, or a good, or even a mediocre professional basketball player.

Against Real Madrid the 28-year old looked afraid of the pressure. That pressure is nothing like what he will experience in the NBA this season. The thing is, this decision should have been made well before the preseason started.

Singler’s shooting percentages have slowly digressed over his career. Brought in as a shooter, Singler shot an impressive 30.9% from three and 38.9% from the field. At 28 and supposedly entering the prime of his career, Singler has lost any sort of confidence. He’s visibly afraid when he gets passed the ball and he plays defense like I did during my playing career (trust me that’s badddddddd).

Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

So why is cutting Kyle Singler even a thought?

The Thunder currently have 16 guaranteed contracts on the roster. Somebody HAS to go. Mitch McGary was, and still is, the odds on favorite. But what seems like a foregone conclusion has now become an open competition.

McGary has not played in the preseason so far because of injury, and that’s not helping the big man’s case.

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However, the 24-year old looked lightyears ahead of his counterparts during the Summer League. There’s no doubt about McGary’s skill inside the organization; it’s his attitude that has him on the brink of leaving Oklahoma City.

Eating Singler’s salary is not optimal, but keeping him on the roster for four more years may be even worse. The Thunder are loaded with young talent in the D-League; guys like Semaj Christon and Dakari Johnson are in line to make the roster soon. It makes more sense to keep guys around who have the potential to improve and help the team than keep a diminishing Singler around.

His biggest skill-supposedly-has deteriorated into one of his biggest weaknesses. The Thunder brought Singler over for his shooting, but he was below-average in that category last season. With Alex Abrines and Anthony Morrow the Thunder have two viable shooters that can play small forward; that doesn’t include uber-athletic small forward Josh Huestis.

Kyle Singler is probably a fantastic human being. But his lack of basketball skills makes him a liability for OKC. Even with Mitch McGary’s attitude problems, the Thunder should look at keeping the former Michigan big because he brings a much higher ceiling (and much higher floor for that matter).

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