In what seems to be just a matter of a few years, OKC Thunder cornerstone Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has managed to transform from a rising stud in this league to a bonafide superstar.
Since being traded to Oklahoma City back in the summer of 2019, the Kentucky product has undeniably upped his play with every passing season.
Now, heading into his age 26 campaign, all eyes are on him to raise his already lofty bar even higher considering the ball club's new-found championship expectations and, based on recent comments made by teammate Chet Holmgren, it appears he's showing signs that there's another level to his game that's ready to be unleashed.
Chet Holmgren admires Thunder Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's new shot
Following Tuesday's practice session, the Thunder's reigning rookie phenom was asked by beat reporter Joel Lorenzi if he is at all "surprised" by Gilgeous-Alexander's continued development.
In response, Holmgren said that, rather than being surprised, he just seems to "admire it," and went on to praise his Thunder running mate for his new-found advancement in the shooting department, particularly from downtown as he showcased throughout this year's preseason play.
"Success isn't linear. There's no guarantee that if you say you want to work on something and you work on it that you're actually going to be good at it. But, somehow, every summer he's like 'I'm going to work on this' and he comes back and he has that sh*t mastered... He didn't shoot shots like that pretty much at all last year and now he'll shoot it 10 times in a row in a practice and make nine of them," Holmgren said of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Though far from being considered a liability from beyond the perimeter on offense, throughout his six-year professional career Gilgeous-Alexander has not necessarily established himself as a lights-out shooter from 3-point land.
While he has converted at a highly impressive clip of 41.8 percent from deep throughout an entire season, half of the time he has shot at sub-35.0 percent and sports a career conversion rate of just 34.9 percent.
Despite this somewhat lacking ability, however, the point guard has still managed to thrust himself into the conversation of literally being considered the best player in the entire league, and at worst a top-five player.
His resume which includes two All-Star and All-NBA First Team nods along with his hotly contested second-place finish in the MVP conversation last season only strengthens his claim for such a status.
Now, entering year seven, it appears that this already established megastar has found a way to improve his game even more, as he's fresh off three preseason bouts that saw him cash in on a whopping 63.6 percent of his 3-pointers while hoisting up nearly four per game.
This level of activity came in less than 20 minutes played a night -- just imagine what damage he could potentially inflict upon opposing teams with a full regular season game's workload!
Considering he's currently a favorite to win league MVP without having fully unleashed his new long-range shooting stroke, it's exciting to think about how much his odds increase once he starts letting them fly.
To Holmgren, SGA's development is "both inspiring and frustrating" to bear witness to, and he "makes it look easy."
The ease with which he's able to amplify and add to his bag of tricks should absolutely terrify the rest of the league.