The player who led the Oklahoma City Thunder in minutes wasn’t an established veteran player. It wasn’t an emerging role player playing for his next contract.
It was Theo Maledon, a second-round draft pick out of France. General manager Sam Presti expressed a bit of incredulity when he brought up that stat during his end-of-season press conference.
“That guy led us in minutes as a 19-year-old,” Presti said. “He has a real serious makeup.”
Maledon played 1,778 minutes, 64 more than second-place Darius Bazley’s 1,714 and 235 more than Lu Dort, who was the only other Thunder player to reach 1,500 minutes on the season.
Maledon played 65 games, one short of Kenrich Williams’ team-high 66.
“I felt like I did a pretty good job. I didn’t get injured and was always out there as much as possible,” Maledon said. “Did not take one day for granted, one game for granted, and so that’s something that I’m satisfied with.”
The rookie acknowledged it was a challenge. He hadn’t had a season this long in his life. Maledon played 44 games in 2019-20 between ASVEL’s LNB Pro A and EuroLeague team, and 51 between Lyon-Villeurbanne’s LNB Pro A and ASVEL’s EuroCup team in 2018-19.
“The schedule was very different and a lot tougher than I expected,” Maledon said. “First time playing (72) games and having back-to-backs, but I felt like I did a decent job making sure I was as ready as possible when the games were coming.”
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Maledon entered the starting lineup in January when veteran George Hill was injured. That was the silver lining to Hill’s thumb injury — it allowed Maledon to enter the starting lineup ahead of schedule. Prior to the injury, it had seemed likely Maledon would start at some point this season, but he may have had to wait for a trade of Hill before getting consistent starting minutes.
Instead, he jumped in a month into the season and played well overall.
Maledon averaged 10.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. His shooting percentages were low, but his poise and demeanor was impressive, particularly for a 19-year-old who had not played basketball in the United States.
“He really has a natural professionalism to him because he’s played professionally for so long,” Presti said. “His personality is, I think, really even, and that’s probably an understatement.”
Presti ended that thought with a laugh that referenced Maledon’s typical lack of emotion on the court.
The No. 34 overall 2020 draft pick enters 2021-22 with a spot in the Thunder rotation. It’s unclear whether it will be a starter or bench role, but Maledon showed he’s an NBA-caliber player.
This post originally appeared on OKCThunderWire. Follow us on Facebook!