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OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder are NBA champions and just completed of one of the most incredible rebuilds in NBA history going from contender to lottery team, then back to a contender in just six seasons. All this could not have been done without 2025 NBA Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Los Angeles Clippers.
Gilgeous-Alexander, once thought to be the next big thing for the LA Clippers, was shockingly traded in July 2019 in a deal that set the Thunder up for years to come. His father, Vaughn Alexander, believed it would be perfect for his son.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's dad sounds off on Clippers trade
When the Clippers traded Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to the Oklahoma City Thunder in July 2019, it was a major package for then-superstar Paul George, but it was also a deal that would secure the free agency commitment of Kawhi Leonard.
The way the Clippers — and the rest of the league — viewed it was a deal that brought in the reigning NBA Finals MVP and the third place-finisher for MVP voting in exchange for a young guard and an absolute haul of draft picks that probably wouldn't matter if the Clippers were as successful as they hoped they would be by the time those picks were used.
But Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his family had grown accustomed to Los Angeles, a new setting around a veteran group of players and experienced coaching staff.
“When it first happened, we were a little [disappointed],” Vaughn Alexander told ClutchPoints in an exclusive sit-down interview during the Thunder-Pacers NBA Finals. “Like, obviously you get traded out of a place that you're relaxed and you're comfortable in. It's LA. The weather is hot, you got girls, everything. We'll be loving it, right? But then after a while, you start to think, ‘Wait a minute.' Because at first you're like, ‘Wait, I got traded. I love this place.' But then when you're really sitting down and thinking about it. I think it was Summer League where we sat down and thought about it. I was like, ‘Shai, this is your chance to shine, bro. This is it. This is destiny. That's what God wants for you,' number one.”
In addition to the lifestyle changes, Gilgeous-Alexander was presented with an opportunity to go to a well-run organization in the Thunder that would make him the centerpiece of their franchise. While other members of his draft class were given the runway to play through mistakes and learn from them, Gilgeous-Alexander was on a Clippers team with a lot of veteran guards with no clear path to consistent minutes given Doc Rivers' coaching style.
“Number two, I said, ‘What's going on in LA?'” Vaughn Alexander continued to ClutchPoints. “‘Yeah, you like it. It's hot, girls, all that. But really and truly, bro, they're not letting you be you. Collin Sexton is dropping 22 points a night. Deandre Ayton is doing his thing, playing 40 minutes, you know what I'm saying? Everybody in your draft class was being the man because they were all playing on bad teams where they got drafted early and high in the draft and they had to play through it.'
“But we were on a good team or a fairly good team with veterans. Lou Williams, Avery Bradley, Tobias Harris, right? So they had to bring him into it. They tried to bring in Shai in slowly just because he was a rookie when I was like bro, you know me. I was like, ‘Yo, let him play right away. He's ready now. Look what he did in Kentucky. Stop this, he's a point guard. Patrick Beverley is not a point guard. Avery Bradley is not a point guard. Lou Williams is not the point guard. Who's your point guard on the team? No, tell me, Doc. Who is your point guard?'”
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished his rookie season sixth in Rookie of the Year voting having played all 82 games. He averaged 10.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.2 steals in 26.5 minutes per game of his rookie campaign.
But, again, given the veteran presences on the team, Gilgeous-Alexander wasn't given the runway to be “The Man,” which is what his father believed he needed to showcase his full potential.
In his first season with the Thunder following the trade, Gilgeous-Alexander upped his averages to 19.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.1 steals in 34.7 minutes per game.
“They didn't want to play him as a point guard,” Vaughn Alexander added. “Yeah, you make him bring up the ball, but then he runs to the corner. So nobody really knew who Shai was. You could see the talent. They loved him. The guys loved him. Doc knew who he was. Patrick Beverley knew who he was because they were playing his ass in practice. But when you guys were really using him in the game, you're using him as a ‘bring up the ball, get us into our sets and just go in the corner and stand up.'
“So now when you go to OKC, Shai, I'm like, ‘Yo, guess what's about to happen, Shai? When you think about it, you're about to be Shai. You're about to be Shai from when you were 17 or 18 years old at Kentucky. You're about to be that Shai. And that's when the world's going to get to know you. You don't go from 10 points a game to 19 points a game by working on your jump shot in the offseason. Yeah, I believe you get better, but not in those increments. You could already do that. Now you're just allowed to. You got let go.'”
From there, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has increased his scoring average nearly every season to the point where he was the league's leading scorer in 2024-25, averaging 32.7 points in addition to his other stats of 5.0 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.7 steals, and a block in 34.2 minutes a night.
The Clippers have had some unfortunate luck stand in the way of their NBA championship aspirations, and now Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has led the Thunder to a championship six years after the deal was made. This franchise is also set up for the long haul thanks to the Clippers trade that changed everything.
