Brooks Barnhizer is a player to watch for the Thunder

Brooks Barnhizer is starting to make a case for himself as one of the more interesting names to watch for the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Northwestern product isn't putting up numbers by accident, either. He's finding ways to impact games, even when everything isn't falling perfectly. Barnhizer's latest performance came in Oklahoma City's 97-87 loss to Dallas, where he had his third double-double in four outings. He finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, a block and a steal, giving the kind of all-around performance coaches tend to like a lot. Through his recent stretch, Barnhizer has averaged 12.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Those numbers paint the picture of a player who isn't just waiting around for scoring opportunities. He's making plays for teammates and finding little ways to stay involved when the shot isn't going his way. More sports news: Bucks’ Nate Ament is Proving He Belongs in the NBA More sports news: Magic’s Jase Richardson Is Quickly Becoming a Player to Watch That's actually been the one thing keeping this stretch from being completely smooth. Barnhizer has connected on 43.9% of his shots overall while struggling from deep, shooting just 16.7% from 3-point range. The jumper hasn't quite followed him yet, but the rest of his game has kept him on the floor. That's part of what makes Barnhizer worth watching. Scoring tends to get the attention, but the guys who can rebound, defend, create and bring energy usually find a way to stick around. The Thunder have plenty of young talent to sort through, and not every promising performance turns into a long-term role. That's just the reality of the league. But Barnhizer has shown enough in a short window to make people want to see more.