While there's still some speculation over whether OKC Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should be considered the best player in the association, there's a strong case to be made that, as things currently stand, he's the most untouchable.
Yet, for some reason, some, such as Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons, surprisingly seem to believe that even this is up for debate, as the former has Victor Wembanyama ranked ahead of him when it comes to such a topic, while the latter has both Wemby and Nikola Jokic before SGA.
With all due respect to each of these highly admired pundits, as well as the aforementioned stars, viewing either one of these players as being less tradable than the Thunder cornerstone is a borderline heresy.
Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is most flawless player in NBA
The fact of the matter is, Gilgeous-Alexander has no clear blemishes on his player profile.
Through seven seasons played in the association, the point guard has racked up three All-Star and All-NBA nods, an NBA scoring championship, an MVP, and, most importantly, an NBA Championship while earning Finals MVP along the way.
On top of this, the 27-year-old has had rather good fortunes in the health department throughout his career to this point, minus his issues with plantar fasciitis that held him to 35 games in 2020-21.
In comparison, Jokic, who is a seven-time All-Star and three-time MVP, and is coming off a campaign where he averaged a triple-double (29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, 10.2 assists per game), is three years older than Gilgeous-Alexander, at 30 years of age.
The 21-year-old Wembanyama, meanwhile, has the potential to become perhaps the greatest two-way player the game has ever seen what with his sensational length (7-foot-5 with an 8-foot wingspan), defensive acumen (finished second in Defensive Player of the Year during his rookie season), and his career-averages of 22.5 points on 46.9 percent shooting from the floor.
That said, he's also proven to be quite susceptible to injuries and other health-related ailments throughout his two seasons in the association thus far, with his most recent issue being deep vein thrombosis (blood clots), which held him to just 46 games played last season.
Not only is Gilgeous-Alexander one of the most likable players in the league today, but, considering he's only the second player in history to post at least 30.0 points per game on 50.0 percent shooting in three consecutive seasons and the fourth player to win the scoring title, regular season MVP, and Finals MVP all in the same year, he's already established himself as a true legend in the making.
With him leading the way, Oklahoma City is widely regarded as virtually unstoppable.
This, coupled with the youth advantage he holds over Jokic and the health edge he has over Wemby, makes it truly astonishing that the just entering his prime Thunder cornerstone isn't unanimously viewed as the most untouchable player in the NBA.