Sports Illustrated "Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Ready to Breakout"
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is exceeding all expectations for the Thunder this season. He is Oklahoma City's leading scorer with 19.3 points per game, he shooting 47 percent from the field and 35 percent from three.
All this why playing out of position. Gilgeous-Alexander who is a natural point guard has been lighting it up as a small forward/shooting guard while Chris Paul and Dennis Schroder handle duties at the one. If his 32 point outing in his hometown of Toronto didn't put a spotlight on the 21-year-old his 7 for 15, 16 point performance in the Rising Stars in Chicago sure did.
We haven't even mentioned his contributions to the three-headed monster of ball handlers which is outscoring opponents 29 points per 100 possessions. Or his five consecutive games of 15 plus points and multiple steals, the only players in Thunder history to have accomplished such a feat or Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Paul George.
Even with all these accolades there is more left in the tank which is why Shapiro says "Gilgeous-Alexander is in some ways Oklahoma City’s glue."..."The Kentucky product meshes well as a combo guard alongside each of the aforementioned point guards, able to both create his own shot off the bounce and provide reliable stretch from beyond the arc."
" Imagine if Oklahoma City had a second guard of his caliber before Kevin Durant's departure." Durant did say the Thunder's inability to stretch the floor was one of the reasons he left.
However, as the "only three-point shooter Oklahoma City had" he went 1-8 from beyond the arc in game six of the 2016 Western Conference Finals. But, enough about Durant, Gilgeous-Alexander will be expected to lead the Thunder both on and off the court in the near future, and by all accounts, he should have no issue making that transition.
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