Bleacher Report Predicts Thunder Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Will Make All-NBA Second Team

The Oklahoma City Thunder have been one of the biggest upsets in the league this season as they battle for a playoff spot after being considered a lottery team.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander deserves the biggest credit for OKC’s turnaround as the 24-year-old enjoys the best season of his career. In 64 games, he averaged a career-high 31.3 points with 62.5 true shooting percentages, 5.4 assists and 4.8 rebounds.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s performance even prompted whispers that he will appear on MVP ballots. With the kind of season he’s enjoying, he’ll easily make an All-NBA team for the first time in his career — the question isn’t if, but which of the three teams he’ll make as guard.

Accordingly Bleacher reportthe answer is All-NBA Second Team:

“The road to modern NBA efficiency doesn’t usually involve halving three-point tries, but Gilgeous-Alexander has a way of getting what he wants on his own terms. Just ask any full-back who has tried and failed to stay ahead of him this season.
Nobody tops Gilgeous-Alexander 23.9 drives per game, and Malcolm Brogdon is the only player with a lower turnover rate among those attempting as many as 15 such games per game. It’s hard to explain how a player who only attempts 2.5 trebles per contest gets in the suit so often. Everyone knows where SGA is headed, and it still gets there.
SGA averages 31.4 points per game while shooting 51.1 percent from the floor. They existed prior to this offensively explosive year in which three other players are breaking the same barriers only three 30 points, 50 percent seasons since Michael Jordan’s 1991-92. They included LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.
Their mileage may depend on his Most Improved Player chances, but it must be noted that SGA has gone from an exciting young talent who had never made it to an All-Star team to a shortlisted MVP candidate this season became.”

Reaching the second team is the most likely outcome for Gilgeous-Alexander, but he has a really strong case to make the first team. The only thing likely to hold him back is OKC’s record and market size.

The two All-NBA first team guards were Luka Doncic and Steph Curry.