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The Oklahoma City Thunder are one of the best teams in the league, and they appear to be right on the verge of competing for the Larry O’Brien trophy. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a superstar and the team has a treasure trove of assets along with several promising young players, including Chet Holmgren.
Unfortunately, for Thunder fans, there is one weakness that is holding the team back. This fatal flaw hasn’t caused problems for the team yet, but it could reveal its ugly head at the worst possible moment and doom this young Thunder squad in the postseason. Gilgeous-Alexander is the team’s only star initiator, and the front office must find him a running mate.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a superstar, but he needs help
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the top 10 or 15 isolation scorers in the world. He is elite in his ability to create suitable separation through slight movements and intelligent play. SGA isn’t the most explosive player, though, and he makes a living through a variety of side steps, stepbacks, crossovers, and other dribbling moves.
He also has incredible footwork and knows how to use the defenders' momentum to his advantage. SGA thrives when it comes to getting opposing players off balance and then making his move in the opposite direction of the defender. The young guard out of Kentucky is incredibly instinctive and has a high basketball IQ. He makes up for his average athleticism with precision and formidable creativity. He needs help, though, or else defenses will mitigate his impact through double-teams.
Defenses can, and will, key in on SGA
Without another credible scoring threat, defenses are going to focus on locking down Gilgeous-Alexander and not giving him opportunities to score.
If defenders start to catch on and figure out that nobody else is a threat as an initiator, they'll realize that SGA is a limited threat as an athlete and understand that double teams can give him fits. That will lead to defensive coaches scheming multiple defenders onto the former Kentucky guard specifically.
When this happens, it will make it harder for the star Thunder guard to create separation. That is because, with two defenders on him at all times, those players can hedge their bets and protect against combination moves he loves to utilize.
For example, one defender can hang back to guard against a drive while the other can shade toward the stepback. Defenders can also play on both sides of SGA, and he doesn’t have the athletic skills to split the defense, which is the primary way that guards beat aggressive double-teams.
The Thunder are on the doorstep of the Finals
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The Thunder are on the verge of being legitimate contenders. They made the conference semifinals last season but ran out of steam against the Dallas Mavericks. This team is so young and so close to taking the next step. Their window for contention is wide open and they just need one more player to make a leap toward stardom.
The Thunder need somebody else to step up
What the Thunder desperately need is for another player to step up offensively as an initiator. This player will ideally be a guard or a wing, and they will be able to create for themselves and for others in the half-court. If the Thunder can find a player with that archetype or if one of their young players can develop into that guy, the team will become that much more dangerous, and SGA will have plenty of opportunities to create against one-on-one coverage.
General manager Sam Presti has built up an enviable war chest full of assets that can be used to make a competitive offer for virtually any player who becomes available on the trade market.
For now, Presti should turn his attention south and look at a potential deal that could reverse one of the most ill-fated decisions the Thunder ever made. Many years ago, Oklahoma City traded a young guard with limitless potential to the Houston Rockets. His name was James Harden. Although Harden didn’t get over the hurdle and win a title, he developed into one of the top five players in the week in Space City.
If Harden had remained in OKC with Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, they could have formed a dynamic big three and potentially become a dynasty. The Rockets recently signed Jalen Green to a contract extension. However, analysts reviewing this deal believe that it may have been structured specifically in a way for the team to trade Green in the future.
Jalen Williams can be that guy
The good news for the Thunder is that they might not have to work outside of their own roster to find somebody who can take pressure off of Gilgeous-Alexander. That’s because they already have a player on their roster who it’s the description of what they’re looking for to a tee.
Jalen Williams is a third-year, wing out of Santa Clara University, and he has the potential to emerge as a superstar. Williams is a tall, athletic and twitchy wing who has shown glimpses of star potential offensively. If he is able to develop into a scoring threat that defenses respect and have to focus on, it will go a long way toward reducing the pressure on Gilgeous-Alexander and making the team as a whole more efficient and dangerous.
