Areas Where Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Can Improve in 2023-24

Oklahoma City's star is coming off of an impressive MVP caliber season, but there's another level he can take it to.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the face of the franchise in Oklahoma City. He took a massive, unexpected leap a season ago and carried his strong play over into the FIBA World Cup this summer, solidifying that his run with the Thunder wasn’t a fluke. The Canada native averaged 31.4 points, 5.5 assists and 4.8 rebounds a season ago, converting on 51% of his field goal attempts and 34.5% of his 3-pointers. 

He finished in the top five of MVP voting, received All-NBA First Team honors and made his first All Star appearance. He put the league on notice, and the Thunder benefitted. He led Oklahoma City to the play-in tournament and carried the team night in and night out. Because of it, the Thunder have high expectations heading into this season, including postseason aspirations. 

Every season, Gilgeous-Alexander has improved on something new. He’s used the offseason to add a completely new aspect to his game and take his two-way play to another level. 

It’s hard to find things to improve on after a season averaging 30+ points per game, but there’s no reason to suggest Gilgeous-Alexander won’t come back with a new element to his overall game. Here are a few improvement areas to look for during Gilgeous-Alexander’s sixth NBA season:

Outside Shooting

Gilgeous-Alexander is not a bad 3-point shooter by any means. But outside shooting is certainly one area that he gets knocked on to this point in his career. Last season, he didn’t need an outside shot to average over 30 points per game, finding success at the free throw line and finishing around the rim.

If he adds a reliable 3-point shot and takes more attempts per game, Gilgeous-Alexander could be an unstoppable player offensively.

Off-Ball Defense

Gilgeous-Alexander improved his on-ball defense by leaps and bounds last year. He averaged 1.6 steals and 1.0 block per game, near the top of the both categories in guard ranks.He benefited from having a player like Lu Dort to guard the opposing team’s best scorer night in and night out, but SGA certainly upped his game too. 

There were times were he exerted so much energy on the offensive end that he got lost on defense, especially off-ball. With a bit more attention to detail, he could be an elite two-way player.

Playoff Performance

It’s not a knock on Gilgeous-Alexander, although some people will use it as one, but we haven’t seen him perform in the playoffs since the 2019-20 season. The Thunder’s timeline hasn’t quite matched up, as the team has been in a heavy rebuild mode. Now, it seems like the team is officially ready to win, and Gilgeous-Alexander can shut a lot of haters up by winning in the playoffs.

He’s an elite scorer and playmaker, and we’ve seen it in the regular season, but it’s time for SGA to prove it in the playoffs too. This is the perfect season to do just that.

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