(Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images)
The 2023-24 NBA regular season will get underway on Tuesday, with a lot of intriguing storylines around the league, including the potential emergence of the Oklahoma City Thunder as a legitimate force to be reckoned with in the Western Conference.
Last season, the Thunder were on the cusp of putting the league on notice, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander making a strong case for NBA MVP at one point.
Unfortunately, Oklahoma City fell back to Earth as the season progressed, but they were still able to make it to the Play-In Tournament and get the best of the New Orleans Pelicans.
However, the Minnesota Timberwolves proved to be too much to handle, and the season came to an end for this upstart Thunder squad.
Despite being unable to reach the first round of the NBA playoffs, Gilgeous-Alexander did enough to prove he could be the next superstar in the making, with former NBA star Lou Williams believing the Thunder guard is a top-five player this season, via “Run It Back.”
High praise for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander @TeamLou23: “I think he’s a top 5 player this year”@ChandlerParsons: “My boys are obsessed with fantasy basketball… They took SGA with their first pick”@shaiglalex | @ShamsCharania | @MichelleDBeadle | @FanDuelTV pic.twitter.com/EpALITBp0S
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) October 23, 2023
That’s a bold take from Williams, but he might not be wrong, as the league is always wide open to start the season, and this year is no different, with a number of teams and players potentially ready to breakout.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished fourth in scoring last season, averaging a career-high 31.4 points per game to go along with 5.5 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting an impressive 51% from the floor and 34.5% from beyond the arc.
If Gilgeous-Alexander can maintain or even improve upon those numbers while leading the Thunder to wins consistently, he’ll be in the MVP race once again and in the conversation for being a top-five player moving forward.
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