Thunder End of The Year Report Card: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Continuing with SI Thunder's end of the year report cards, next up is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Visibly the brightest star for Oklahoma City, Gilgeous-Alexander impressed with even more improvement in his third season.
Here are SI Thunder's grades for SGA:
Nick Crain's Grade: A
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was absolutely spectacular in his third NBA season. Although his time was cut short due to injury, there was enough of a sample size to officially say he's a future superstar.
In his first season as the top guy on the roster, Gilgeous-Alexander was expected to experience growing pains. However, we didn't see much of a struggle at all throughout the season.
Not only was he nearly impossible to guard on offense, but he was one of the most efficient scorers in the entire NBA. Scoring nearly 24 points per game at age 22 is great, but the way he went about it is what was most impressive.
He finished the season playing in 35 total games, finishing the 2020-21 campaign with 50/40/80 shooting splits. This is especially impressive considering the guys he was surrounded by, as SGA was the primary objective for defenses to focus on every single night.
Even outside of scoring, Gilgeous-Alexander did a little bit of everything, averaging nearly six assists and five rebounds per game while also using his unique length on the defensive end of the floor and showing his potential upside there.
Finally, his leadership was beyond his years, both on and off the court this season. On the floor, he facilitated the offense and also guided the handful of rookies on the roster. Even after his season ended, he was on the bench as the team's biggest motivator, continuing to take players under his wing.
Things couldn't have gone much better for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander this season, outside of his health.
Derek Parker's Grade: A-
This past season was the first time I felt superstardom was obtainable for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Stardom was always blatantly in reach for the former Kentucky guard following his rookie season, but his third season was a spectacle.
After spending a year under Chris Paul's wing, he followed up by averaging 23.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game.
Gilgeous-Alexander did it all in year three: he finished at the rim, he hit threes at a high volume, he was clutch when needed, he was a primary playmaker.
Already an incredible inside scorer, 'SGA' cemented himself as one of the NBA's best finishers in his third season.
His improved 3-point shooting is what elevated him to pre-Superstar status. He remarkably improved his 3-point clip from 34 to 41 percent, while adding two more attempts per game.
In 'Thunder' terms SGA earned an A+. But there's still some improvement to be made for the budding guard in terms of becoming a top player in the league. Tightening up his defense is a start, as well as learning when to take advantage of lapses in defense with his aggressive spurts.
Should Gilgeous-Alexander see anymore increase in his game, I'll have no choice but to give him an A+ this time next year.
Ryan Chapman’s Grade: A
Sam Presti and Mark Daigneault have to be incredibly pleased with the development of their young star.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continued his ascent in his third year in the NBA, improving this field goal shooting by three percentage points to 50.8 percent, and his 3-point shooting by seven percentage points, all the way up to 41.8 percent. If he can sustain those shooting numbers, Gilgeous-Alexander will rank amongst the elite of the elite in the NBA, while also being a good enough defender to spearhead the Thunder.
But the area where Gilgeous-Alexander really impressed this year was his leadership.
In the face of his season being cut short by injury, a season mind you that already had incredibly low expectations, Gilgeous-Alexander stayed engaged on the sidelines. The first guy to celebrate his teammates’ successes, the former Kentucky star looked like he was genuinely enjoying the process in one of the most trying NBA seasons on record.
His teammates noticed it too.
During Oklahoma City’s end of the year exit interviews on Monday, Darius Bazley noted how Chris Paul took Gilgeous-Alexander under his wing a year ago, and how Paul’s leadership qualities had rubbed off on Gilgeous-Alexander.
“(Paul) took (Gilgeous-Alexander) under his wing. He took a lot of us under his wing,” Bazley said. “He definitely passed on some stuff because Shai is becoming a great leader.”
And that’s exactly what the Thunder are going to need out of their young start as they advance into the next phase of the rebuild. OKC’s culture is set, but Gilgeous-Alexander’s leadership will continue to perpetuate the culture as new pieces are drafted and integrated into the team.
As long as he can return to full health, expect Gilgeous-Alexander to take another step forward, displaying an All-Star caliber brand of basketball.
