Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's next evolution: Why the 2-time MVP should give up touches to his Thunder teammates
· Yahoo Sports
Ten years ago, the Thunder needed Russell Westbrook to do just about everything. James Harden was long gone, and Kevin Durant had left for Golden State, leaving Russ as both their star quarterback and workhorse running back. He became an MVP. But an offense built around one player doing it all became predictable and exhausting.
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Russ got more help when Paul George arrived in 2017, but three consecutive first-round exits eventually sent Oklahoma City into a rebuild.
Now, the Thunder have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a two-time MVP and NBA champion with a deeper roster around him. He plays a different style than Russ, but he has also carried an enormous offensive load. Given the lessons Oklahoma City learned from the Westbrook experience, and the possibility that Shai's enormous workload finally began to catch up with him deep in the playoffs last season, I wonder whether SGA's next evolution will involve something Russ never fully embraced with the Thunder: Doing less.
Maybe Gilgeous-Alexander's evolution has already begun.
(Ethan Palowitz/Yahoo Sports Illustration)This summer, while playing for Team Canada in World Cup qualifying, Gilgeous-Alexander asked head coach Gordie Herbert to let him play more off the ball. That gave Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Andrew Nembhard more opportunities to initiate while Shai found other ways to attack. Both Alexander-Walker and Nembhard ended up running more pick-and-rolls than Shai.
After Canada's win over Puerto Rico, Herbert said Shai was "tougher to guard off the ball" because defenses had a harder time trapping him. That assessment is debatable, considering Shai has become one of the world's most unstoppable scorers with the ball. But the idea to shift off the ball came from SGA himself.
In two games for Canada, Gilgeous-Alexander attempted four corner 3s and two 3s off screens. In 83 regular season and playoff games for Oklahoma City last season, he took only 13 corner 3s and six off-screen 3s. Two games are a tiny sample, but the change in his shot diet was striking.
Maybe this was just a wrinkle for Canada, but OKC should think about taking a similar approach after injuries limited Jalen Williams to just 33 games last season. Shai had to carry the burden on his own, and his efficiency faded as the playoffs progressed with JDub sidelined for the majority of it. Shai's true shooting fell from 68% against the Suns to 58% against the Lakers to 55% against the Spurs. Better defenses, different matchups, and shooting variance are factors. But given how much OKC asked Shai to handle across multiple seasons and playoff runs, his heavy workload is undeniably a prominent factor.
JDub remains OKC's most important secondary creator. Beyond him, Jared McCain, Ajay Mitchell, Cason Wallace, and Nikola Topić give the Thunder several young guards who could benefit from more responsibility.
Oklahoma City spent the summer making decisions to add even more players who can create with the ball in their hands. The Thunder traded three established rotation pieces in Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins, largely turning them into future draft capital while creating financial breathing room. To replace them, they drafted 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara at No. 12 and guard Bennett Stirtz at No. 16, two more young players with legitimate offensive skill. Stirtz posted historic usage as a pick-and-roll savant, and Mara was one of the best passing bigs in all of college basketball.
Mara fits in with OKC's other bigs. Isaiah Hartenstein can facilitate through handoffs and passes from the elbows. Chet Holmgren can attack closeouts, bring the ball up the floor, and make plays on the move. Last year's lottery pick, center Thomas Sorber, offers even more passing potential at center.
It might sound ridiculous to suggest, after a Finals MVP and back-to-back regular-season MVPs, that Shai should give up touches to his teammates. But there's a big difference between being capable of carrying an offense and needing to carry one. Thunder general manager Sam Presti has constructed a team that is overflowing with players who can handle the ball enough to warrant touches, but don't need it so much that they can't fit around Shai. So giving up the ball more doesn't necessarily mean shooting less. It could mean easier shots for Shai and more opportunities for his younger teammates to develop.
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault has previously spoken about the benefits of using the regular season to experiment. During OKC's championship season, Hartenstein and Holmgren both missed extensive time. Once they were healthy, Daigneault continued playing them together even against opponents that could challenge the two-big look because he wanted the team to learn what worked and what didn't.
"We're in the early stages of understanding that," Daigneault told reporters in February 2025. "We need to work on it. We need to understand it."
The Thunder ended up using the Holmgren-Hartenstein pairing for just over one-fifth of their total playoff minutes. Whenever Daigneault needed to, including in the Finals against the Indiana Pacers, he could still pivot to a one-big lineup. The same idea applies here: Shai can still take over whenever a possession stalls.
That's why the regular season should again serve as a laboratory. Oklahoma City already knows Shai can carry an elite offense. This team is going to manufacture wins no matter who runs the team. But building for the playoffs is key. And after last year's disappointment, the next step is to develop more players who can create for SGA and learn which combinations make it hardest for a defense to take him away.
The Westbrook Thunder needed their MVP to do everything. These Thunder shouldn't. And if Shai fully embraces that difference, doing less might be what allows Oklahoma City to win even more.