Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has Bought in, and That's a Major Win for the Oklahoma City Thunder

Embarking on a complete organizational teardown can be risky.

There are no guarantees that in three to five years, what emerges from the ashes will be a contender. And in the meantime, there is a risk that the assets who stay with the team for the entire journey will have their development hampered or even become disillusioned with winning.

But through one year of the Oklahoma City Thunder rebuild, budding star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander showed no signs of either problem.

On the court, the former Kentucky star took another leap.

Improving on his career high field goal percentage by three points, he also improved his shooting from behind the arc, posting a new career high of 41.8 percent from 3. And Gilgeous-Alexander remained efficient, improving his shooting in all areas while taking 1.4 more shots per game.

After an offseason of rehabbing his foot, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said he expects his starting point guard to continue to improve this offseason.

“The most impressive think about him, especially with the offseason upon us, is every time you give that guy time in the offseason, he comes back better,” Daigneault said in his end of the season exit interview. “And he’s proven that time and time again.”

Off the court, Gilgeous-Alexander appears to be bought in to the process as well.

“Sam (Presti) does have a great track record and knows what he's doing,” Gilgeous-Alexander said in his end of the season exit interview.

And while the team’s success declined after Gilgeous-Alexander was shut down with his foot injury, he said the morale remained high.

“I wouldn't say the last sort of month and a half a couple months was the most fun I've had playing basketball, but it is what it is. Life's about ups and downs seasons about ups and downs,” he said. “Through it all you got to have core values and things that you stick by and I think as a team we had those, and I think that's what allowed us to keep a positive mindset throughout the losing.”

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In fact, Gilgeous-Alexander said the one thing he was most proud of this season had little to do with what was happening on the court.

“But I think the amount of fun myself and my teammates had throughout the whole season from start to finish,” he said. “We had a blast and that’s the thing I’m most proud of.”

The Thunder could be the big winners on lottery night, landing the first and fifth overall picks, and end up accelerating their rebuild. They could also fall all the way out of the top five and continue on a long path to deliver them back to the playoffs.

But so long as Gilgeous-Alexander continues to be bought in off the court, Presti and Daigneault will have a centerpiece on it to build around for years to come.