Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has truly blossomed into one of the brightest young stars in the NBA. The 24-year-old is coming off a season where he averaged 24.5 points to go with 5.9 assists per game, and he seems to keep improving with each passing year.
There isn’t a big spotlight on him, however, as he has been toiling away in obscurity as part of the Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC has been in full-blown tank mode these last two seasons, and while there was hope that the franchise would take some big strides this upcoming season, but an injury to Chet Holmgren has derailed those aspirations.
Toronto Raptors Could Land Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
With the Thunder being some ways away from being a winning franchise, there has been some chatter regarding SGA’s future. Would he really want to stick around as the team keeps losing? Well, the man himself reaffirmed his commitment to the Thunder recently as he said he knew what he signed up for, but we have seen that these things change very quickly. Josh Lewenberg reports that the Toronto Raptors are closely monitoring the situation and would make a move if Shai gets fed up with leading the rebuild in OKC.
“One of the situations they’re closely monitoring, according to a league source, is in Oklahoma City, where Toronto-born star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may eventually tire of leading a rebuild. The Thunder have gone 46-108 over the past two years and don’t seem close to turning the corner, especially after losing second-overall pick Chet Holmgren to an off-season foot injury.”
“The 24-year-old point guard spent the summer playing for Nurse with the Canadian senior men’s national team, so there is familiarity on both sides. Gilgeous-Alexander is under contract with OKC through 2026-27 and has given no indication that he would prefer to play elsewhere, but again, things can change quickly in this crazy league. If that or any other enticing opportunity presents itself, Ujiri and Webster – flexible as ever – will be ready.”
SGA is Canadian, something a lot of people don’t seem to know, and the opportunity to go back to Toronto, where he was born, might be appealing to him. It is just speculation for now but what does seem clear is that the Raptors want him.
As long as the Thunder remain terrible, we can expect these rumors linking Shai and the Raptors to float around, so OKC needs to get their act together. Accruing all these draft picks is fine and well, but they need to actually start looking to win some games now.
