Will Quick Olympic Turnaround Force OKC Thunder to Monitor Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?

The Oklahoma City Thunder superstar will see very little time off from the end of the season and the start of the 2024-25 campaign.

Jul 27, 2024; Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France; Canada guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) controls the ball against Greece in the first quarter during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Stade Pierre-Mauroy. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports / John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Basketball never sleeps, it is the closest thing to a Year around sport with just one month of a true dead period in years such as this offseason where the Olympics will carry through August. Even without the Summer games, NBA basketball is only truly away for two months before it is training camp time again.

For the Oklahoma City Thunder, who went on their deepest postseason run since the 2016 season, seeing their final game being played on May 18 as the Dallas Mavericks finished off their series win in Game Six. Couple this superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander participating in 75 regular season games - hitting the 70-plus game mark for the first time since the 2019-20 season - and the work load piles up.

After the May exit, the OKC Thunder superstar reported to training camp for Team Canada and eventually began playing in exhibition games ahead of the Group A slate which is two games deep now with the MVP runner up leading his home country to a 2-0 start.

By the time the Olympic games wrap - especially for Canada who projects to Medal this summer - it will be Aug. 10, less than two months prior to the Thunder's preseason opener on Oct. 7. Doing quick math on when Media day typically falls and the fact the players usually get together a few weeks before the listed camp report date, it is easy to see Gilgeous-Alexander will have a jam-packed summer schedule.

With such a busy offseason, perhaps the Oklahoma City Thunder will have to consider monitoring Gilgeous-Alexander's workload throughout the season. Especially in training camp and preseason, it seems unlikely the star will see heavy action given his Olympic run.

During the regular season, perhaps the early months are worth avoiding back-to-back tilts. However, it is difficult to envision this Olympic stint hampering the 26-year-old's minutes during the course of the season.

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