Why Shai Gilgeous-Alexader Deserves Early Season MVP Hype

A year ago, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's rise to stardom took the NBA by storm. He progressed from a fringe star to a legitimate No. 1 option averaging over 30 points per game on efficient splits.

Oklahoma City has taken another big leap in 2023-24, and Gilgeous-Alexander's improvement has been impressive yet again. It's hard to be better than he was a season ago, but he has added even more to his game. The Thunder star should be one of the MVP front-runners through 15 games.

Leading the Thunder to an 11-4 record, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 30.4 points, 6.3 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game. His shooting splits are impressive, registering 53.8% from the floor, 35.8% from 3-point range and 93.1% from the free throw line. His points per game total is even more impressive this season considering his free throw attempts have dropped off so much. He's only averaging 7.2 attempts per game, down from 10.9 a season ago.

The Thunder's numbers with him on and off the court are astonishing. It feels like a completely different team. With Gilgeous-Alexander on the floor, Oklahoma City is a +13.5, which amounts to a +135 in 467 minutes overall. With SGA sitting on the bench, Oklahoma City is just a +0.4, which totals +2 in 267 minutes.

Under the NBA Stats Player Impact Estimate, Gilgeous-Alexander ranks No. 2 behind Nikola Jokic.

His defense has been on another planet, too, helping Oklahoma City's top five defensive system. He's averaging 2.4 steals and 0.9 blocks per game while locking up his matchup every time on the floor.

There are plenty of solid MVP candidates through 14 games this season, and it's likely gonna be a race for the ages. But the one thing that's for certain, is that Gilgeous-Alexander belongs. And right now, he should be somewhere near the top.

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