The Oklahoma City Thunder have been labeled as one of the biggest surprise teams in the league this season. After being projected to finish with high lottery odds, they are knocking on the doorstep for a playoff berth.
The 37-38 Thunder currently own sole possession of the 10th seed, as they are a full game ahead of the 11th-placed Dallas Mavericks.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can be credited for the Thunder’s surprise season, as he’s made the leap to a superstar scoring guard in the best season of his career yet.
The 24-year-old is averaging over 30 points on 60-plus true-shooting percentage — a rare feat for a guard that puts Gilgeous-Alexander in the same breath as Steph Curry, James Harden and Damian Lillard.
After conducting research and looking through these statistical rankings, it’s going to be difficult to argue against Gilgeous-Alexander being an All-NBA First-Team guard.
Let’s look at where Gilgeous-Alexander ranks in major statistical categories with the regular season concluding in less than two weeks.
Points per game: 31.3 (4th in the NBA)
Gilgeous-Alexander is enjoying the best season of his career as he’s ascended to a 30-point scorer. He’s been able to do this with a drive-heavy game and a knack to get to the free-throw line.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s consistency is also an underrated aspect of his scoring game. He has scored at least 20 points in 61 of his 64 games this season. He is also third in the league for most 30-plus point games at 42.
Rebound per game: 4.8 (92nd in the NBA)
Rebounding isn’t really the 6-foot-6 guard’s strong suit. In five seasons, Gilgeous-Alexander’s rebound career high is 5.2 per game.
Assists per game: 5.4 (32nd in the NBA)
Neither is playmaking for Gilgeous-Alexander. He fits the profile of a scoring guard who can create his own buckets. His career high for assists is 5.9 — which he’s accomplished two times in the last two seasons.
Drives per game: 24 (1st in the NBA)
Now, this is SGA’s bread and butter. For the third consecutive season, Gilgeous-Alexander is leading the league in drives per game.
Considering the wide margin between first and second place — Ja Morant is No. 2 at 20.6 — Gilgeous-Alexander will most likely finish the season as No. 1 once again.
Being such a drive-heavy player means facing a lot more contact from defenders, which segues me to the next stat…
Free throws per game: 10.7 (4th in the NBA)
Gilgeous-Alexander has unlocked the ability to get to the free-throw line at will. He is averaging a career-high 10.7 trips — which shatters his previous high of 7.2 attempts.
Being such a high-volume free-throw shooter means Gilgeous-Alexander can have big scoring nights even if his shot isn’t falling, especially considering how efficient of a free-throw shooter he is.
Free-throw percentage: 90.4% (6th in the NBA)
Being an elite free-throw shooter and an elite free-throw merchant has resulted in Gilgeous-Alexander’s high-efficient 30-plus scoring game.
Gilgeous-Alexander is among the best of the best at converting his attempts. An incredibly useful skill to own. The 90.4% shooting is quite the jump from last season’s 81%. Speaking of efficiency…
True shooting percentage: 62.5%
To put SGA’s season in perspective, only three other guards in the league’s history have averaged over 31 points on 60-plus true-shooting percentage:
Steph Curry, James Harden and Damian Lillard.
At this point, Gilgeous-Alexander has normalized scoring 30-plus points on 20 or fewer shots. The 24-year-old’s season will be remembered in the history books.
Steals per game: 1.7 (5th in the NBA)
While the high-efficiency 30-point scoring games get all of the attention, Gilgeous-Alexander has sneakily improved on the defensive end as well.
He is averaging a career-high 1.7 steals. Only Jimmy Butler and O.G. Anunoby average more.
The way Gilgeous-Alexander collects his steals is also impressive in itself. Instead of gambling to poke the ball away from inattentive ball-handlers, he uses his 6-foot-11 wingspan to disrupt passing lanes and intercept the ball.
Usage percentage: 32% (9th in the NBA)
The Thunder goes as SGA goes. That’s been evident this season.
With how high his scoring numbers are, it’s not surprising to see Gilgeous-Alexander rank among the best in the league in usage rate. The fifth-year guard has naturally progressed to taking more of OKC’s offensive responsibilities as he continues to develop.
It’s important to note that this exercise is using the NBA’s stats. Basketball Reference has SGA’s usage rate at 32.9%.
Minutes per game: 35.5 (18th in the NBA)
The biggest knock against Gilgeous-Alexander over the last two seasons has been his availability.
Due to multiple reasons that range from being extra cautious with injuries and improving lottery odds, Gilgeous-Alexander only played in 91 out of a possible 154 (59.1%) games the last two seasons.
That clearly hasn’t been an issue this season as he is averaging a career-high in minutes and has played in 64 of the Thunder’s 75 games. Barring injury, he is on pace to play 70-plus games for the first time since his sophomore season.
