Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Looks to be Early MVP Candidate on Season

Debating NBA awards in the first quarter of the season holds little to no weight. The Oklahoma City Thunder has played just 14 games and plenty will change over the remaining 68 games.

Still, looking at early award candidates is fun. For example, it looks like Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren will be the two front runners for the Rookie of the Year award.

With award narratives happening ahead of the season, it's interesting to analyze where players are at the start of the season compared to what was expected before the season.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a good example. He was fifth in MVP voting a season ago after scoring over 30 points per game on 51 percent shooting from the floor. In that season, the Thunder went 40-42 and missed the playoffs after a play-in loss.

So, that leads to this season. What is Gilgeous-Alexander's ceiling? Statistically, it will be hard to top last season. He had MVP-level numbers, but the win total wasn't there.

Heading into this season, the win total was expected to improve, but by how much was to be determined. Again, it was going to be hard for Gilgeous-Alexander to statistically replicate his last season because of the additions of Cason Wallace and Chet Holmgren on top of anticipated leaps from Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams

Through 14 games, Gilgeous-Alexander averages the seventh-most points per game in the NBA at 29.6 points per game in 33.9 minutes per game. He's shooting 53.5 percent from the field and 36 percent from beyond the arc while adding 6.2 rebounds per game, 5.8 assists per game and 2.5 steals per game.

On both sides of the floor, Gilgeous-Alexander plays elite basketball. His steals and blocks are impactful defensively while he's one of the best offensive players in the entire NBA.

With the Thunder holding a 10-4 record through four games and Gilgeous-Alexander having an obvious impact on that, he projects to be in the MVP conversation once again, and he will have an even better case if the Thunder can continue winning to back up his elite stats.

Of course, there is plenty of time for a lot of things to change, but the fact that Gilgeous-Alexander has a great chance at being in the MVP conversations is incredible, proving that it wasn't a one-year run a season ago.

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