SGA’s Best Days
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
He’s leading ESPN’s ranking for Most Improved Player and is ranked 13th by NBA.com in the MVP race
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander came into this season with another low-expectation filled team outlook. In his previous four seasons, the Clippers and Thunder had a low ceiling and an even lower floor. Simply put, they were not quality teams. After the 2022 NBA Draft, OKC fans had much higher hopes this time around. Shai had a squad around him coming into this season. Lu Dort signed a big contract, Josh Giddey had a solid rookie campaign and Tre Mann showed off many on-ball scoring skills towards the end of last season. On top of drafting 2nd and grabbing Chet Holmgren, this team landed three other first-round picks before the night was over. Right when it all starts coming together, Chet goes down while trying to stop a Lebron dunk a couple weeks before training camp began. This left SGA with a young, untested team without a true #2 star next to him. Fans began to look forward to next year's lottery, and assumed another season is soon to be down the drain. NBA media members began to beg the question, “when will Shai become sick of losing and want out?” I mean the Thunder have lost the 4th most games in the league since his arrival, and now the 2nd overall pick will be out the whole season? Shit.
Yet somehow, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has come out playing like a maniac! He’s leading ESPN’s ranking for Most Improved Player and is ranked at 13th by the NBA in the MVP race. Having watched a handful of his games, SGA deserves more chatter from writers & fans. Let’s begin with the fact he’s the 5th highest in PPG and has increased that scoring number by 7 since last season (24.5 to 31.5). Shai’s success isn’t even from the three-point line, where most of the other elite scorers get their points from. Of the players in the top 20 for scoring, he has the third lowest 3 pointers made per game, only AD and Giannis score less from deep. SGA is attacking the basket and doing so at a high level. Of players attempting six shots within five feet of the basket (27 eligible players), SGA is shooting the 11th Highest (69.2%). Compared to last season (22 eligible players), his scoring percentage was the 5th Lowest (59.2%). Two strong figures showing his massie offensive leaps from a season ago. Increasing your scoring total and percentages by such stark numbers is incredibly difficult to do, especially when you have the ball in your hand as much as SGA does. 79.5% of all his made baskets are unassisted, it’s not like he’s getting great passes, SGA is doing all of his own work and is succeeding alongside the NBA’s elite.
Where his numbers begin to become crazier is on the defensive end. Many of the better offensive players save up energy when playing defense to be able to perform at a high level on offense. Only the very best players are elite on both sides of the ball. Shai is currently 5th in the league at 3.7 deflections per game. He is 13th in blocks per game, and the only guard to be in the top 30 of this category. Finally, Shai is also 3rd in steals per game. If he keeps up these numbers, he’ll become only the 3rd guard in NBA History to average 30 PPG, 2STL and 1 BPG (Dwayne Wade & Michael Jordan). Not exactly the worst players to be sharing a sentence with. Shai is hooping like a wizard on the court, playing with a flare and creativity that is so incredibly fun to watch. 14 games in, the OKC Thunder are sitting at 11th in the west with a 6-8 record. Now these numbers don’t jump off the page but this season has been riddled with mediocre play by many teams. Now I don’t see this squad as a lock for the playoffs, and I don’t think it’s safe to predict MVPs this early in the season, but SGA is giving numbers that only the two best Two-way guards in NBA history have recorded. So, Anything is Possible.
All statistics are recorded from https://www.nba.com/stats
