The Oklahoma City Thunder couldn’t possibly be looking to move on from rising NBA star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander already. Right? He is the best player on this roster by a comfortable margin. Additionally, he’s only 23. What are we doing here?
Well, we’re speculating. We won’t be the first to do so on this topic either. The Thunder could find 2 legitimate reasons to deal SGA.
The first is the emergence of Josh Giddey. He surpassed all expectations in his rookie season. Like Gilgeous-Alexander, he’s a jumbo-sized primary ball-handler. Unlike his Canadian counterpart, he’s largely ineffective off-ball.
Giddey shot just 26.3% from distance this season. Barring substantial improvement, this presents the Thunder with a dilemma. They could relegate Gilgeous-Alexander to an off-ball role, but they’d be misusing their resources. He may be effective that way, but he’s maximized with the ball in his hands.
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Besides their potentially awkward backcourt fit, the Thunder may be motivated to keep the tank alive. Armed with a historically unprecedented number of future first-round picks, the team may be wary of winning in 2022-23.
After all, next season’s draft class features the potentially generational Victor Wembenyama, along with plenty of other outstanding prospects. Between Gilgeous-Alexander, Giddey, and whoever the Thunder select in the upcoming draft, staving off 35 wins may prove difficult for this club.
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It’s rare to see a rebuilding club deal a player with as much promise as SGA. It’s also rare to see a team prioritize draft capital like Sam Presti’s Thunder have.
If they opt to continue losing with purpose, here are two deals that could land Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the Detroit Pistons.
