After initially arriving in Oklahoma City as a complementary piece on a playoff roster, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has since become the centerpiece of a rebuild for a Thunder team that appears lottery-bound for a second consecutive season. While Gilgeous-Alexander would obviously like to be winning more, he told Joe Vardon of The Athletic that he’s enjoying his role as the focal point of OKC’s offense.
“Yeah, absolutely. It’s something I’ve dreamed about as a kid,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Everyone wants to be that guy, you know what I’m saying? With high pressure comes great rewards.”
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- The Trail Blazers‘ investigation into Neil Olshey may be entering its final stages, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv, who says Olshey was interviewed earlier this week as part of the probe. Sources tell Begley that Olshey is still owed more than $12MM on his current deal, which could become a sticking point if the franchise decides to part ways with the executive, as we outlined on Thursday.
- Rudy Gay had an impressive first game back from offseason heel surgery, pouring in a team-high 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting in just 18 minutes in his Jazz debut on Thursday. The performance displayed how Gay is capable of helping Utah this season, writes Sarah Todd of The Deseret News.
- Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said on Thursday that his assistant coach Sam Cassell was the first to suggest that the Nuggets would be a good fit for Doc’s son, Austin Rivers. As Mike Singer of The Denver Post details, Rivers signed with Denver last season, then re-signed with the club in the offseason and is playing regular minutes. “It’s always great when your kid is happy,” Doc said.
Thunder are 10th. They can make the Play in Game at least. Sacramento and Minnesota aren’t good. They can beat them out for the 10th seed.
They’re barely in 10th place, it’s unlikely that OKC will finish the season ahead of the Kings, Wolves, and the Spurs. Maybe one or two of them, but probably not all three.
The Thunder can go into their annual tank mode later in the season, maybe soon after the All-Star break.
I don’t think you know what “annual” means?
They made the playoffs in 2020 COVID year.
Last year was the first time they REALLY tried to tank. And you have a roster that told John Wall to go home. Is that not tanking?????
I was referring to OKC’s annual tank mode that they began last season after going into full rebuild mode. Their current payroll is by far the lowest in the NBA, even after they gave Kemba a $54M buyout. No player on their entire roster makes more than $10M/year. No one should expect the Thunder to be a playoff team anytime in the near future while they continue stockpiling draft picks.
And they’ll still be more relevant sooner than Houston.
Bc houston has that 2 year boat anchor they can’t dump without giving up picks to do so.
And I suppose OKC is going to surround SGA with a boatload of talent while the Rockets are stuck with Wall? They already gave Houston a huge leg up in the Sengun trade. I’m sure Presti will do wonders with the two heavily protected picks he got in exchange.
A healthy and hungry Rudy Gay will go a LONG way for determining who comes out of the west. Best bench in the league. They are 11 team right now. It’s between them and GSW atm. I’m not discounting Phoenix, Both LA teams because it’s not even Thanksgiving, but roster construction and coaching wise, it appears that Utah and GSW are light years ahead of the contenders such as Denver, Lakers, Clippers, Suns.
yeah, i think Utah has at least 9 guys with talent and experience, same situation with GSW. I really like Utah’s chances this year, a lot and more than previous seasons.
Phoenix has been red hot as of late and they really do have a hell of a team. I’m not underestimating them again. Denver has been pretty banged up and still staying afloat. I’d say it really comes down to those 4 teams. The Clippers don’t know when or if they’re getting Kawhi back. Even if they do it will be late in the season and he’ll be on minutes restrictions. I hate to ever count LeBron out but he can’t do all that much from the bench. I know he’ll be back soon but I think age is catching up and he’ll miss more than a few more games.
I like Phoenix. I feel like they need a stretch 4. They’re lacking that guy since Saric is hurt. Maybe they make a move for a stretch 4 later this year? I agree, can never count them out, especially with such an excellent head coach in Monty Williams and good leadership from CP3 and Jae.
Utah, Golden State, Phoenix, and Denver should be the top 4 teams in the West with home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
I am tired of Sam Cassell not given a chance to be a head coach. What more does he need to do? He’s a fantastic assistant coach. He has relationships in the NBA circle. A former all star and champion. It’s a shame he hasn’t gotten his due, but guys like SVG get a chance because of the name. Cassell would be a perfect head coach for a team like the Sacramento Kings.
Do not punish Sam with the Kings job…
If you were the Thunder, when would you start turning those picks into players? Like when do you say okay time to actually compete?
The picks are a crap shoot IMO.