OKC Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander saw his elite level of play during the 2023-24 NBA regular season translate seamlessly to the worldwide stage during the 2024 Paris Olympics, as he led the charge for a promising and highly competitive Team Canada squad.
Though the boys of the Great White North fell short of their ultimate goal of winning a Gold Medal, as Team France eliminated them during last week's Quarterfinal matchup, their on-court productivity and overall ferocity were encouraging to see and, considering the club's core registers an enviable average age of just 26.7, it's hard not to view them as a serious threat moving forward.
Olympic teammates to pair Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with on Thunder
Of course, after witnessing just how entertaining and exciting this team is when found on the court together, some may be eager to see these running mates reunite sooner than the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
As the clear cut leader of Team Canada, Gilgeous-Alexander specifically seemed to gel with a number of his cohorts this summer, and Thunder fans could realistically be interested in seeing a few join forces with him out in Oklahoma City at some point down the line.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker
The Thunder may already have an obscene amount of depth out on the wing what with the likes of Jalen Williams, Alex Caruso, Lu Dort, and Aaron Wiggins serving as headline talents at the position, but the concept of adding Nickeil Alexander-Walker to the equation would be about more than just roster bolstering.
His arrival to Mark Daigneault's talent pool would provide even more rotational switchability, as the 25-year-old measures in at 6-foot-5 with a whopping 6-foot-9 wingspan and has proven capable of slotting in at and guarding through positions down from the one to a small-ball four.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker beats the Q1 buzzer 💰 pic.twitter.com/qoaCkEIJyk
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 27, 2024
Over the last two seasons, Alexander-Walker has managed to up his stock as an elite 3-and-D role player, with this past campaign proving to be his best since entering the association back in 2019-20 as he wrapped with high-end averages of 8.0 points, 2.5 assists, and 2.0 rebounds on 39.1 percent shooting from deep all while registering a 111 defensive rating and a +1.3 defensive box plus-minus.
Of course, easily the main attraction of seeing the fifth-year veteran joining forces with Team Canada teammate SGA with the Thunder is the family-oriented angle, as the two are first cousins on Shai's father's side.
Regardless of which way one looks at the pairing, be it sentimental or rotational, there would likely be some serious interest from fans to see the relatives team up in the NBA at some point in their careers.