Looking broadly, Oklahoma City Thunder fans may not be thrilled with the placement of guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in a recent ranking released by The Athletic.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s placement in Tier 3B may feel low for some people. That places him in the 24-30 range, and you could make an argument that his stat line last season — both scoring totals and efficiency despite being the only offensive threat — should have boosted him a spot or two.
But the talent around him makes it impossible to argue this is a slight.
Joining Gilgeous-Alexander in 3B were Bradley Beal, Donovan Mitchell, Ja Morant, Jamal Murray, Karl-Anthony Towns and Mike Conley.
Beal was barely beaten out as points king last season by Steph Curry. Mitchell was dominant in the playoffs again, averaging more than 32 points over his 10 games.
Murray, who is injured and potentially out for all of the upcoming season, is similar to Mitchell: He is a burgeoning star guard who has shown the ability to lead a team in the playoffs. Morant is, like Gilgeous-Alexander, one of the young stars in the league. Towns is a star whose playoff absence is through no fault of his own. Conley revived his career last season, making the All-Star game and being a key cog for the Jazz.
It’s very good company for Gilgeous-Alexander.
Seth Partnow, the ranker of the Athletic, wrote:
“If shot creation is the most important skill in the game today, as I think it is, the fact that Gilgeous-Alexander is already an elite practitioner of that skill warrants having him placed this high almost on its own. There is still work to be done defensively and as a long-range shooter, but those additions will be to an already very high base of achievement.”
The 3-point shooting absolutely progressed last season, and his defense took a step back as he became the focus of the offensive game plan. Both can and should improve.
Ahead of Gilgeous-Alexander in 3A were Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday, Trae Young and Zion Williamson.
Perhaps Gilgeous-Alexander can be so good next year — as Partnow put it, he was “almost too good for Oklahoma City’s draft-focused goals” last season — that he’ll be thrust into this echelon or above.