How the Thunder's new Backcourt Game Plan Could Maximize Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

A 124-104 loss to the Phoenix Suns (49-10) wouldn’t typically be anything newsworthy — especially for a team headed for a Top-4 pick in the 2022 NBA draft — but this wasn’t just any loss for the Thunder.

It was the return of the Thunder’s leading scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and as would become clearer in the game, a shift in how the Thunder (18-41) will play going forward. There was a clear difference in game plan from the last time he shared the court with fellow guard Josh Giddey.

An effort will be made going forward from the Thunder to get Giddey on the ball more than he has thus far — utilizing his passing and court vision skills to their fullest.

Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the league’s best at attacking the rim and drawing contact or using his long frame to finish around defenders. With that ability the change in game plan didn’t seem to hinder his ability to score, he was just required to become more innovative in the ways in which he found his points. Against the Suns he finished with 32 points on 13/22 shooting, proving that not only can he score off the ball, but he can do so efficiently.

There were some growing pains having the two back together for the first time since Jan. 28, combining for 10 turnovers, but the signs of what the Thunder are building toward are there.

Giddey starred as the lead guard during Gilgeous-Alexander's 10-game absence heading into the All-Star break, but Thunder coach Mark Daigneault says this plan wasn’t decided upon during Gilgeous-Alexander’s absence. Rather something he and the rest of the Thunder organization had started building towards long before the injury.

“During this stretch obviously he hit the gas and took it to another level in some of those games,” Daigneault said. “The Shai injury is not like the starting point of anything. We’re in a continuation of something that we’ve been talking about and working on all year. This is nothing new. It’s just an evolution of those two players that we think are really good players that we’re gonna carry forward with.”

This has been a necessary course change for a while, but the 10-game stretch heading into the All-Star break just made it that much more glaring. Giddey has yet to show that he is even at a league average level of 3-point shooting ability, so he’s limited in what he can provide off the ball compared to someone like Gilgeous-Alexander. He is however already among the league’s most creative and impressive playmakers. And it’s that playmaking that could make having the ball not only see him reach his potential, but make the life of Gilgeous-Alexander that much easier.

“Obviously that’s where I’m most comfortable,” Giddey said. “A lot of the time I’m running stuff to get the ball back in his hands, so it just takes the pressure off him having to bring it up. Guys pick him up full court, make it hard. I just try to make life easier for him — bring it up, get into the offense and then it’s gonna come back to him and he’s gonna be able to attack on the second side.”

Gilgeous-Alexander's life bringing up the ball for the Thunder has not been easy. He ranks fourth in the NBA in the number of times double-teamed per game. Meaning when defenses have the ability to set up and prepare for him they make life as difficult as possible.

Giddey bringing the ball up and initiating offense should offer Gilgeous-Alexander a plethora of good, single-coverage looks that he otherwise would struggle to get as teams try suffocate him as the initiator.

This won’t be the first time Gilgeous-Alexander has played as a secondary ball handler. This won’t even be his first time doing so in OKC. In his first season with the Thunder he shared the backcourt with Chris Paul and Dennis Schroder — meaning the ball would have to be shared among the three in order to find success.

And it worked to near-perfection. Gilgeous-Alexander flourished, leading the team in points with 19, as the Thunder finished the season as the fifth seed in the Western Conference.

“It’s something that you have to sacrifice to be a really good team. I know that,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I learned it early on in my career with that (2019-20) team. We were really good. Obviously we had a lot of threats on that team, and each guy had to sacrifice to better the team.”

Daigneault said he knows the move is going to take some of that sacrifice from both players, particularly Gilgeous-Alexander, but said it’s what the organization has decided maximizes the potential of the team as well as the players involved.

“We’ve gotta utilize (Giddey’s) strengths,” Daigneault said. “He’s a really good initiator, he’s a really good creator and we’ve gotta use that part of his game to unlock the potential of the team. It’s gonna require Shai to make some plays off the ball a little bit, where he’s driving close-outs, where he’s shooting open shots — but it’s also gonna take some load off Shai.”

Gilgeous-Alexander said that playing off-ball wasn't his "Plan A", and you can understand why. A player as good is isolation, who ranks second in the NBA in isolations per game, and can get 30 points on how own most nights would obviously want the ball.

But Gilgeous-Alexander said he knows a move like this is what it takes to be a good team in the NBA.

“I know to be one of the best teams in the league, which we want to be very soon, you’ve gotta have multiple guys that can play on the ball.”

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