A year ago, the OKC Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams were thought to be one of the best, if not the best, duos in the league. They arguably proved as much when they led the Thunder to a championship in 2025.
Now more than a year removed from their title, the pair is looking up at other, more fierce tandems. According to CBS's latest ranking of the NBA's top duos, SGA and J-Dub slot in as fourth. It's a far cry from the league's perception of them not too long ago, and, given that one of the two is a back-to-back MVP, one might warrant more blame than the other.
The three duos that landed ahead of the Thunder pair are as follows:
1. Victor Wembanyama & Stephon Castle
2. Nikola Jokic & Jamal Murray
3. Jalen Brunson & Karl-Anthony Towns
With Gilgeous-Alexander having dominated league accolades over the past two seasons, the answer as to why he and his running mate slot in behind the others is painfully obvious.
Thunder's number two isn't comparable to other elite number twos
In terms of talent, Shai easily has Jalen Brunson beat, and there is a valid argument that he has leapfrogged Nikola Jokic. That means CBS considers both Karl-Anthony Towns and Jamal Murray as better second options than Jalen Williams. In fact, they think the talent gap is so large that it outweighs the gap between Shai and the other two franchise players.
Victor Wembanyama is the only one who potentially beats SGA outright. Even then, a legitimate case can be made for the contrary. If, hypothetically, CBS considers Wemby better than the MVP, it would mean the talent gap between Stephon Castle and J-Dub is minuscule and isn't enough to offset the difference.
It's a brutal reality check for a player who was considered the 15th-best player in the NBA by Bleacher Report ahead of last season. Dub's disappointing 2025-26 campaign left much to be desired, and he clearly has a lot of ground to make up in the eyes of NBA pundits.
The fifth-year man has certainly seen his stock plummet over the past year, and he will likely enter the new season with a chip on his shoulder. The barrage of disrespect towards the wing may end up being for the best, as fans will get to see a fired-up version of their beloved two-way stud.
It's a good thing, too, as his ability to close the gap between him and the league's other elite second options may make all the difference this year.
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