While the NBA season may now be in the rearview, OKC Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander still finds himself taking part in meaningful in-game action with Team Canada during the 2026 FIBA World Cup.
So far into the tournament, the two-time MVP has only continued to showcase his ridiculous on-court repertoire, most recently by dropping 26 points in a 110-84 win over Puerto Rico.
However, despite registering a typical-looking output, according to Canada head coach Gordie Herbert, Shai has done so while actively adopting a new skill set to his game that, if mastered, could make him truly unstoppable.
"Shai came and said he'd like to play off the ball a little bit more," Herbert said. "We're trying to play him off the ball and on the ball... I think he's actually tougher to guard off the ball."
Over the past several seasons, Gilgeous-Alexander has established himself as one of the most elite on-ball talents in the game. Just this past year, he led all players in isolation points scored (522) while placing in the 92.6 percentile in isolation plays.
However, by adding a trusty off-ball game to his bag of tricks, SGA would have the chance to become even more of a matchup nightmare than he already is, which, frankly, would be an absolutely terrifying new reality for opposing clubs when considering he's currently one of the most dominant offensive weapons of all time as is.
Making him a must-guard even without the rock in his hands could quickly prove too much for the rest of the league to handle.
Thunder have an overwhelming amount of offensive weapons on roster
A willingness by Gilgeous-Alexander to play more off the ball could directly create tremendous opportunities for his Thunder running mates to develop their own on-ball creation skills next season.
Oklahoma City is seemingly filled to the brim with highly promising offensive weapons just waiting for their chance to shine.
Whether it's fellow All-Stars Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren or budding studs like Ajay Mitchell and Cason Wallace, there are an overwhelming number of scoring threats on coach Mark Daigneault's roster who have consistently shown flashes of being capable of raising their play when given more responsibility.
Honing the skills of these aforementioned players when given the keys to the offensive bus could actually prove to be highly beneficial for the Thunder as a whole, as their firepower fizzled out astronomically last season when Shai was out of the game, dropping to the 30 percentile in points per 100 possessions (112.5) and 49 percentile in effective field goal percentage (54.3).
Having his teammates get more involved and overall impactful in the offensive creation department could seriously benefit Gilgeous-Alexander both from an endurance and versatility standpoint, which, during the latter stages of a deep and grueling playoff run, should greatly benefit the Thunder as a whole.
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