National Media Member Crowns OKC Thunder Star as NBA's 'Midseason MVP'

The Oklahoma City Thunder have had a fantastic start to the 2024-25 season, going 35-7 and holding a 6.5-game lead over the Houston Rockets.

Leading the way for OKC once again is Shai GIlgeous-Alexander, who is averaging more than 30 points per game for the third consecutive season. This year, SGA is tallying 31.5 points, 6.1 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 1.1 blocks per contest.

Gilgeous-Alexander's play has been strong enough to buoy the Thunder despite the team missing Alex Caruso, Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein for significant stretches this season. While the Thunder have a deep roster around their star player, Gilgeous-Alexander is obviously OKC's main offensive catalyst.

While the standout guard isn't the Thunder's top defender, SGA is certainly a strong defender who adds to an impressive defensive unit in Oklahoma City.

On a recent episode of the Game Theory podcast with The Athletic's Sam Vecenie and Bryce Simon, the two made their picks for every end of season award, halfway through the 2024-25 campaign.

Vecenie slotted Gilgeous-Alexander as his midseason MVP, while Simon picked Nikola Jokic, but did acknowledge that each player has a strong case to win the award.

"I'll make the case for why I have Shai at No. 1," Vecenie said. "I think he's the best scorer in the NBA right now. I just would make that case, I think that he is the best scorer in the NBA. I think that he has close to as big of a load, offensively, as what Jokic does, and people don't really recognize that."

The two went on to point out that, aside from Jalen Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein, the Thunder don't have any active players averaging more than 10 points per game. Helping Oklahoma City maintain a strong offense despite missing one of its key players for most of the year has helped SGA's MVP candidacy this season.

In 2023-24, Gilgeous-Alexander finished second in MVP voting to Jokic, who appears to once again be the Thunder superstar's primary competitor for the Michael Jordan Trophy.

In addition to Gilgeous-Alexander, Simon and Vecenie also discussed Jalen Williams on their midseason awards episode, naming the talented wing player to their Third Team All-NBA list.

Williams is averaging 20.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game while helping the Thunder to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Williams is also a staunch defender, contributing to OKC's impressive two-way efforts this season.

"I think Jalen WIlliams is still kind of an undervalued player, league-wide," Vecenie said. "He's playing great defense every single night, he's super switchable, he's super long, he's active, he's strong, he's physical. He is, again, responsible for creating like, everything, shot-wise, for them, it feels like."

If Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams can continue to their impressive seasons while helping the Thunder maintain the top spot in the Western Conference, there is a good chance both are honored at the end of the year.

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