Shai Gilgeous-Alexander To Climb Thunder All-Time Leaderboards
As Shai Gilgeous-Alexander begins his fourth season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, it seems that his place in the team’s record books will be shifting quite a bit.
On Tuesday, Joe Mussato of the Oklahoman scraped the Thunder’s media guide to cobble together some numbers to look at just how close Gilgeous-Alexander is to altering history.
After scoring 1,371 points across 56 games last season, the rising Thunder guard just needs 1,660 points to leap Paul George and Steven Adams on the franchise’s all-time points list. If Gilgeous-Alexander were to play a full slate of games in 2022-23, he would need to average about 20.3 points to leap Adams for fourth place.
The 6-foot-6 guard is also set to surpass James Harden, Kendrick Perkins, and Andre Roberson on the all-time minutes list this season. After facing an injury last year, Gilgeous-Alexander played just 1,942 minutes. He only needs to play about 1200 minutes this season to accomplish this.
Gilgeous-Alexander will also presumably climb the Thunder’s all-time leaderboards in several other categories this year, including made 3-pointers, free throws, and steals and rebounds.
After hitting 89 shots from beyond the arc last year, Gilgeous-Alexander has recorded a total of 249 and should soon jump from the top ten into the top six this season. He could jump into the top five, but the matter is complicated due to his fellow countryman and running mate Luguentz Dort enjoying fifth place with 274 threes.
A foul-drawing machine, Gilgeous-Alexander will move into third place in the ‘made free throws’ category, overtaking Steven Adams’ 876. The Thunder guard currently has 807 after last night’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Matt Krohn / USA TODAY Sports
Oklahoma City’s offensive centerpiece already sits at third in all-time assists with a whopping 770 dimes across three seasons. Gilgeous-Alexander sits right behind former Thunder superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
And with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s stepping into the first season of a five-year contract, the Thunder’s face of the franchise will have plenty of time to improve and strengthen his place in Oklahoma City’s history books.
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