How the Donovan Mitchell trade impacts OKC Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder see two Western Conference All-Stars leave the conference this summer, could OKC Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander be a first-time All-Star this winter?

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been incredible during this time in Oklahoma City, from being a key cog to a squad that made the postseason in 2019-20, to his scoring output rising to 23 and 24 points per game the last two seasons.

The Kentucky product averaged 30 points, seven assists, five rebounds, a block, and a steal per game on 39 percent from deep and 54 percent shooting from the floor in the 13 games he played after the All-Star break before suffering an injury that held him out of the final 10 games of the season.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been poised for an All-Star bid each of the last two seasons but just missed the cut. Now, the OKC Thunder guard seeing Donovan Mitchell and Dejonte Murray leave the conference, two All-Stars from a year ago.

With two spots from last year’s All-Star squad now open, Gilgeous-Alexander will be first in line to take that leap during his age 24 season.

Two big factors holding SGA back from joining the All-Star ranks were team success and availability as SGA played in just 35 games in 2020-21, and 56 games in 2021-22. The Spurs at the All-Star break last season when Murray broke out to make the roster were 11th in the conference with a 23-36 record.

With the addition of Jalen Williams, Ousmane Dieng, and progression by Tre Mann, Josh Giddey, Lu Dort in a better role, and Kenrich Williams still tying some lineups together, the OKC Thunder should still be a competent team around Shai Gilgeous-Alexander despite Chet Holmgren missing the season.

Now that Donovan Mitchell and Dejounte Murray are in the Eastern Conference, it clears the way for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to make a realistic run at his first All-Star bid even more.