The NBA is set to launch the 2021-22 season. Media Day occurs on Monday, September 27th, and training camps opening on Tuesday, September 28th. The OKC Thunder like their counterparts is making the last-minute tweaks as they prepare for this campaign.
Coinciding with the season start the national sites continue to post their preseason predictions including ranking the top players. Thunder captain and cornerstone Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was understandably in the mix for these ranking lists.
ESPN rank OKC Thunder guard Gilgeous-Alexander 36th is egregiously low
As the best player on OKC SGA was expected to land on all the top player lists. Being limited to 35 games in 2020-21 no doubt affected his ranking in some cases but his shooting efficiency across all three levels couldn’t be ignored.
The annual Sports Illustrated top 100 ranked Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 30th and Intentions felt that was too low as we explained in our assessment. To the credit of SI, they did raise the Canadian from 63 to 30 in a single year so they’re at least acknowledging his ascent into the upper tier. Intentions pondered how Jaylen Brown, Khris Middleton, or Bam Adebayo each placed ahead of Shai in SI’s ranking.
The paid-for subscription The Athletic ranked the top 125 players with SGA with Seth Partnow placed SGA in his 3B list or more specifically in his top 30. Intentions writer, Rory Hamilton did a deeper dive on his placement.
Similarly, the NBA ranked the top 30 players and Gilgeous-Alexander failed to make the list but was noted in their honorable mentions presumably falling into the range of 31 to 40. Intentions took umbrage to this ranking. I dove into this ranking comparing three players he should have usurped in the list above him.
The Thunder captain also made several lists heading into this season as a top candidate to win Most Improved Player. Specifically, Vegas ranked him in a tie for first with Zion Williamson while ESPN ranked him as having the second-best odds to win.