Shai Gilgeous-Alexander only OKC Thunder lock for Rising Stars Game

With the Rising Stars challenge just two days before the All-Star Game, the only OKC Thunder player who is a lock to play the game is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

The OKC Thunder have seven players who are eligible for the Rising Stars game on the 14th of February. This match, broken up into Team USA and Team World and only first and second-year players are eligible.

These players are Luguentz Dort, Darius Bazley, Deonte Burton, Hamidou Diallo, Kevin Hervey, Isaiah Roby, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Of these, Dort, Roby, and Hervey have not played enough games to be in serious consideration, even though Dort is a cult hero for the Thunder.

Diallo may attend the All-Star weekend but it will be in the slam dunk contest which he won last year. Diallo may not be considered due to the amount of time that he has missed but it would be good to see him back representing the Thunder.

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Burton is stuck at the end of the bench, he is playing some game time and is a burst of energy every time he hits the court.  His production of 2.4 points and 1.3 rebounds per game does not put him in the top 10 American born players.

Likewise, Bazley is not likely to be in the top ten first and second-year players. As any fan of the Thunder knows, the rookie is one of the hardest workers on the team.

Unfortunately, his production is also not enough to warrant selection averaging 4.4 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.

Gilgeous-Alexander is leading the OKC Thunder in scoring, in fact, all of his averages are incredible. He is averaging 19.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.6 blocks per game. He is the second best Western conference sophomore, behind only Luka Doncic.

The Rising Stars participants will be announced early this week with SGA a lock to be named.