Canada's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads Thunder rebuild after stars exodus

Canada's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander seemed like a nice pickup for Oklahoma City Thunder, a secondary piece in the trade that sent Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers four years ago.

The Hamilton, Ont., native has turned out to be more than an afterthought — much more.

He has blossomed into an all-star, the unquestioned leader of the Thunder's rebuilding efforts and the centrepiece of a Canadian national team that could be a medal contender at the Paris Games next summer. He ranks fourth in the league in scoring with 31.5 points per game — behind Joel Embiid, Luka Doncic and Damian Lillard and just ahead of two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.

He doesn't grab as many national headlines as the other top scorers — in part because the Thunder (38-42) haven't been competitive the past two years. Now Oklahoma City is battling for a spot in the Play-In Tournament with Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks heading into their game Thursday night at Utah.

"It's been fun," said Gilgeous-Alexander, 24, who was selected 11th overall by the Clippers in the 2018 draft after he spent a year at Kentucky. "My favorite part is the team success. There is no better feeling than winning games, and that's all I wanted to focus on coming into the season. And with focusing on that, the individual success just followed."

Oklahoma City has been reeling from the long-term effects of losing Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and George, among others, to trades and free agency. A franchise that reached the Western Conference finals four times and the NBA Finals once the previous decade hasn't made the playoffs since 2020.

The 6-foot-6 Gilgeous-Alexander is giving Thunder fans hope and management reasons to build around him.