2021-22 Thunder player grades: Melvin Frazier Jr.
(Editor’s note: We are starting individual grades for all players from the 2021-22 Oklahoma City Thunder. To access other reviews as part of this ongoing series, click here.)
With the 2021-22 regular season now officially in the books, the Oklahoma City Thunder (24-58) finished their season with the fourth-best lottery odds. This means it is now time for individual player grades for all 26 players who suited up for the team this season during the 82 games. The grades will be determined by what the season expectations were for each player and how they lived up to them.
The twenty-fourth player in the installment is Melvin Frazier Jr., who made his return to the NBA after a one season absence as he played the final three games of the season for the Thunder.
2021-22 statistics
10.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.3 assists on 27.1 percent shooting and 4.8 percent three-point shooting in three games.
Significant Advanced Statistics
Defensive rating: 119
True-shooting-plus: 55
Spot up shooter: 7.6 percentile
Contract
2021-22: $13,294
Thoughts
The Thunder decided to reward some of their Oklahoma City Blue guys at the end of the season by giving them a handful of games where they played as many minutes as they could physically handle; Frazier Jr. was one of those recipients as he was signed to a two-way spot in April.
Frazier Jr. was only able to play just three games, but was given 40 minutes a night as the team’s rotation was essentially just six guys for the last few games of the season. The three-year-veteran played with a green light as he was able to get his shots up –as he averaged 16 per game — but the efficiency was not there for him as he shot below 30 percent in all three games.
But then again, it’s really hard to make any inductive conclusions with this sample size considering it’s just three games and the team was basically playing a glorified G League roster. Throw in the factor that the opponents didn’t exactly scream NBA competition and it’s borderline impossible to draw safe conclusions with Frazier Jr.’s five-day stay with the team.
Final Grade
It’s good to see Frazier Jr. reach the NBA once again after being absent all of last season. The 25-year-old probably doesn’t have a future in the league and will most likely bounce around between the G League and international leagues, but he was given a bone with his work done with the Blue from the team by signing him onto one of the two-way spots.
Frazier Jr. didn’t show much in his three games that aspire confidence in his chances of sticking around in the league, but that doesn’t mean he can’t play in an NBA again in the future as an emergency third/fourth-string player. The Thunder will likely offer him a chance to sign back on with the Blue and who knows — he could be back with the team again in a year as Thunder general manager Sam Presti said the team would focus on player development more if they are not playing games of consequence in the final weeks of the season.
Final Grade: F
