Is OKC Thunder Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Shooting Too Many 3-Pointers?

The Oklahoma City Thunder have seen Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dominate the league once again, proving to be one of the best players in the world. The OKC Thunder superstar is still dazzling in the mid-range but has started to launch triples. Is he shooting too much?

Dec 17, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) shoots against Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard (0) during the 1st quarter of the Emirates NBA Cup championship game at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the best and most unique players in the NBA. The Oklahoma City Thunder routinely toys with defenses to free up looks at the elbow, rises up for tough fallaway base-line jumpers and relentless attacks the rim in an era of bombing away from beyond the arc.

This season, however, Gilgeous-Alexander is not only a mid-range maestro but has added a 3-point shot to his arsenal. The max contract point guard is shooting a career-high 6.3 triples a night.

It should not be a surprise. The Thunder spent all of training camp stressing the importance of upping its 3-point volume, Oklahoma City's star is just following orders - and NBA trends.

For the Thunder to reach its goal of winning a championship, the Superstar has to be a threat from deep to take pressure off of what he is best at in the postseason - a more slowed-down, half-court game, allowing defenses to gear up and protect the paint more than during a Tuesday night in the regular season.

A year ago, as Gilgeous-Alexander was the best player on the floor, the Thunder were ousted in six games during its second round series against the Dallas Mavericks in part due to the lack of 3's.

So this season, as the Thunder sacrifice some individual and team-wide efficiency in exchange for volume. Oklahoma City was the best 3-point shooting team a year ago by percentage but middling in volume at 16th.

This season, the Thunder are sitting 9th in the league in attempts but just 18th in 3-point percentage. It begs the question, has Oklahoma City tasked its superstar with shooting too many 3's?

The short answer is no. This is what is required in the modern NBA to win at the highest level. However, it is a bit more nuanced than this conversation tends to be around the Thunder star.

Sure, Gilgeous-Alexander could get downhill each possession and lift his field goal percentage from the 50 percent it rests at right now to the 53 percent it sat at a year ago. However, that does not help mold his game. The Thunder are uniquely positioned to win games while focusing on self-improvement with its 22-5 record.

The only triples that Gilgeous-Alexander should cut back on is the early shot clock contested jumper. Sure, there is room for the star to improve his 33 percent mark from distance with his track record of development this scribe wouldn't doubt that he will - however, his game will never be best with early shot clock 3's, a situation that the Thunder nor Gilgeous-Alexander should ever hunt to be in.

Instead, catch-and-shoot looks (which Gilgeos-Alexander is hitting at an excellent 53 percent clip) should be the triples he continues to jack, as much as possible, even! On no-dribble jumpers, that mark increases to 63 percent.

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