Though they lost Paul George in their recent trade with the L.A. Clippers, the Oklahoma City Thunder received Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as part of the deal — a player who Sam Presti is excited to have aboard.
In a recent interview with Brett Dawson of The Athletic, Presti noted that Gilgeous-Alexander has “a bright future in the league:”
Presti says Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has a “tremendously bright future in the league” and says OKC is “excited about who he is as a person.”
— Brett Dawson (@BDawsonWrites) July 25, 2019
Gilgeous-Alexander is indeed a player to be excited about. The Clippers selected the 21-year-old point guard with the 11th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. In his lone season with the franchise, he was named to the NBA's All-Rookie Second Team.
In his 82 appearances with the Clippers last season (73 starts), Gilgeous-Alexander racked up averages of 10.8 points on 47.6 percent shooting from the field (36.7 percent from beyond the arc), 3.3 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 26.5 minutes per outing.
NBA veteran Chris Paul has also joined the Thunder, which means Gilgeous-Alexander will likely serve as a backup. There could be instances in which they are on the floor together, however. It's also worth noting that Dennis Schroder is still on the team's roster.
The Thunder finished the 2018-19 regular season with a 49-33 overall record, which earned the team a No. 6 seed in the Western Conference Playoffs. Unfortunately, though, the OKC was defeated by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, 4-1.
Follow Us
Subscribe