Thunder Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Ranked No. 5 In CBS Sports' Top NBA Guards

This summer, the FIBA World Cup proved to be an impressive display of talent from all over the world.

The ongoing debate — sparked by Noah Lyles — regarding the legitimacy of the NBA Champions' "World Champions" moniker is a whole other conversation altogether, but if nothing else was proven, it's that non-American talent has seen a huge uptick in recent years.

While Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is from North America, he does classify as a non-American talent. And he's embraced it. During the FIBA World Cup, Gilgeous-Alexander led the way for Team Canada, and while it ended in a third-place finish, he proved himself as one of the league's top playmakers.

And if they hadn't already, the NBA is really beginning to take notice.

In CBS Sports' recent league analysis, it ranked the top 20 guards in the NBA, with Gilgeous-Alexander earning the final spot in the top-5, falling in at No. 5.

"Gilgeous-Alexander is the most prolific driver in the league, but he's not the head-down, bowling-ball type," the site wrote. "He gets downhill because he keeps defenders off-balance — they know he's comfortable going left or right, and they're worried about his pull-up, his stepback and his spin move."

One of the things that makes Gilgeous-Alexander so dangerous is his versatility. Whether it's his driving ability, his shooting ability from deep and even his defensive impact, there isn't just once facet to the guard's game.

"[Gilgeous-Alexander] gets to the line because opposing teams can't keep him out of the paint," CBS Sports continued. "He has impeccable footwork when he gets there. And in the same year that he bumped his scoring average up to 31.4 per game, he became a more committed individual defender."

For a sixth-year point guard, Gilgeous-Alexander still has a lot left in the tank. His improving stat-line is indicative of simultaneously improving on-court impact — and that's not even mentioning what he brings to a young squad in terms of leadership.

So, his ranking makes sense. And if he continues to improve on the court, that number – which is already low as it as — is only likely to continue decreasing.

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