The hits just keep on coming for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Prized rookie Chet Holmgren is already out for the season with a foot injury, and now star point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is set to miss the start of training camp with a Grade 2 MCL sprain. The Thunder announced the news Wednesday.
It's unclear just how much time SGA will miss with this injury, but you can bet the Thunder will play it extremely safe with their star point guard, especially in the light of Holmgren's injury. While OKC has some intriguing young talent on the roster, this is shaping up to be another season with a lot of losses and an aim at expected top pick Victor Wembanyama.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has developed into one of the best young guards in the NBA, but staying on the court has been an issue the past couple of seasons. He appeared in just 35 games in 2020-21 and 56 games last season.
SGA averaged a career-high 24.5 points to go along with 5.9 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals in the 56 games he appeared in last season. His efficiency did take a dip, though, going from 50.8% shooting overall and 41.8% from 3-point range in 2020-21 to 45.3% from the field and just 30.0% from distance in 2021-22. The especially high 3-point shooting in 2020-21 could be explained by the lack of fans in the stands due to COVID-19, but the hope is he could still bounce back to around league average like he was in his first two seasons in the NBA.
Just when he'll get that opportunity this season remains to be seen. The Thunder have to hope SGA recovers quickly and doesn't miss too much time, even if they have more tanking dreams for the 2023 NBA Draft.
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