Amid the recent rough stretch of the season, OKC Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has shed the "free throw merchant" moniker in the worst way possible.
Since Oklahoma City was bested by the San Antonio Spurs during their NBA Cup semifinal matchup, the MVP has struggled mightily to get to the charity stripe, as he's seen his attempts dip from the third-most in the league at 9.9 per game to outside the top 10 at 7.8.
With this, SGA's also drawing fouls at a much lower rate over these past few weeks, as he's getting only 4.9 favorable whistles blown compared to 6.8 prior to their in-season tournament ouster.
Sadly, these statistical regressions have coincided with what has easily been their worst rut of the season, as the Thunder have gone a pedestrian 7-6 over their last 13 games and have endured their lone two losing streaks of the year along the way.
Though the idea that Gilgeous-Alexander needs to get to the free-throw line to inflate his scoring numbers may be easily debunkable, perhaps there's a case to be made that Oklahoma City needs him to do so in order to play at their best.
Thunder star has seen a stark decline in foul line visits amid rough patch
As noted, the Thunder cornerstone does not need to live at the foul line in order to post high-end scoring numbers.
Despite seeing a steep decline in charity stripe visits, since December 13, Gilgeous-Alexander finds himself dropping the third-most points per game with an average of 30.8 while shooting a highly efficient 52.4 percent from the field.
With that said, throughout this stretch, OKC has barely stayed above .500. Meanwhile, leading into this current 13-game span, they sported an obscene winning percentage of .960 with a record of 24-1.
Coincidentally, their losing streak-snapping win on Wednesday night saw Gilgeous-Alexander attempt double-digit free throws for the first time since early December, and, in turn, extended the club's record to 40-8 dating back to last season when the point guard has seen 10-plus attempts.
Whether the break in play as a result of foul shots helps their players catch a much-needed breather, prevents opposing clubs from going on long and arduous runs, or something else entirely, there clearly seems to be a direct correlation between the number of free throws attempted by SGA and the number of wins the Thunder come across.
Because of this, OKC should be highly interested in constructing a game plan to have their centerpiece return to his early-season ways of getting to the stripe at a league-leading rate.