OKC Thunder: 3 stars SGA should rank ahead of on NBA top 30+ list
Honorable Mentions/injuries (31-40) – Gilgeous-Alexander vs LaMelo Ball
The next seven players presumably would rank 31st to 37th. They include LaMelo Ball, Mike Conley Jr., DeMar DeRozan, Draymond Green, Zach LaVine, Domantas Sabonis, and Nikola Vucevic. To reiterate Leonard, Murray and Thompson were the injury trio added to make the 40 players.
So the obvious here is the fact the Bulls were automatically appointed three of the seven honorable mentions. While Conley and Green offer specific roles on their clubs and aren’t the primary scorers.
That LaMelo Ball lands here feels like a slap in the face to Gilgeous-Alexander. Sure, Ball is an extremely exciting young player who made the Hornets the must-watch NBA league pass team it’s a bit early to be pushing him ahead of players who’ve demonstrated growth, leadership with scoring output and efficiency.
| Rk | Player | G | MP | FGA | FG% | 3PA | 3P% | 2PA | 2P% | FTA | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LaMelo Ball | 51 | 28.8 | 13.2 | .436 | 5.1 | .352 | 8.1 | .489 | 3.2 | .758 | 5.9 | 6.1 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 15.7 |
| 2 | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | 35 | 33.7 | 16.1 | .508 | 4.9 | .418 | 11.3 | .547 | 6.5 | .808 | 4.7 | 5.9 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 23.7 |
Provided by Stathead.com: View Stathead Tool Used
Generated 9/16/2021.
Although Intentions raves about those exciting LaMelo dimes, that shouldn’t be the lone reason to push him ahead of the Thunder point guard. Particularly when Ball only dishes 0.2 additional assists per game.
Moreover, the Thunder captain shoots better in every area of the court and scores more. Considering the Hornets have Gordon Hayward, Terry Rozier, Miles Bridges, P.J. Washington, and what was a deep bench last season he had much more talent to work with compared to SGA.