Clippers moved on from Kobe Bryant 2.0 in ‘worst trade in history’ – now MVP favorite has Luka Doncic in awe and could become NBA’s first $80m man
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander strengthened his status as the NBA’s most potent offensive juggernaut on Tuesday night. SGA exploded for 39 points on 15-23 shooting as his Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Dallas Mavericks 118-104 to eliminate the Mavs from the NBA Cup at the quarterfinal stage. SGA is one of the best players in the NBAAP Like every other basketball fan, Slovenian sensation Luka Doncic, regarded as one of the NBA’s best, was in awe of perennial MVP candidate Gilgeous-Alexander’s otherworldly performance. “He’s a great scorer. He gets his teammates involved,” the Mavs star said after the game. “At some point, you have to send two or three players. It’s amazing to play against a guy like this. Just the battles. It’s fun. He’s an amazing player.” OKC’s 26-year-old floor general was the best player on the court against last season’s beaten NBA finalists, finishing with 39 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. SGA is averaging 30.2 points (fourth in the NBA), 6.3 assists, 5.4 rebounds, and almost two steals per game this season. The two-time All-Star also has the most total points this season (725) and the best +/- rating (a stat that measures a player’s impact on the game by calculating the change in the score [plus or minus] while each player is on the court) of any player in the league (11.5). It’s not as if these are hollow numbers either, the kind associated with All-Star caliber players on garbage teams who represent their ball club’s entire offense. Shai is doing all this for a squad who are No. 1 in the Western Conference (19-5), who have just punched their ticket to the NBA Cup semifinals where they will face either the Golden State Warriors or Houston Rockets in Las Vegas. “You will not see a more dominant scoring attack across the board than what SGA just put on display for the Thunder,” one fan posted on X after the Mavs win. Former NBA enforcer and First Take regular Kendrick Perkins posted: “SGA is the best offensive perimeter player in the league. You can argue with ya mama on that one. Young fella really like that.” The Thunder superstar is virtually unguardable and can score at willGetty The cool-as-a-cucumber Canadian has been on an upwards trajectory ever since he landed in Oklahoma City. But it’s not like Gilgeous-Alexander was a transcendent star out of the gate. Many forget he was initially drafted by the Charlotte Hornets (11th overall) in the 2018 NBA Draft, the same class as Luka ‘Magic’ and behind players like Marvin Bagley III, Trae Young, Mo Bamba, Wendall Carter Jr, Collin Sexton, and Kevin Knox II. SGA’s time in North Carolina was short lived, as he was immediately traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, for the pick after him (which ended up being Miles Bridges) and two future second-round picks. Shai enjoyed a solid rookie season in La La Land before being part of a blockbuster trade package for Paul George in 2019. The now infamous deal — which saw PG13 going to LA, and Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari and five first-round picks plus two swaps going to Oklahoma City — shook both the NBA and the Clippers which the former is yet to recover from. Big things were expected of George and Leonard but the experiment failed to take offGetty On the same night as that bombshell deal, the Clippers signed Kawhi Leonard in free agency to pair with George in the hopes of making the Clippers a championship contender. Fast forward to the 2024-25 season, and SGA is one of the best players on one of the best teams while George is now with the lowly Philadelphia 76ers and Kawhi Leonard is nothing more than a Load Management All-Star. “I had a great year here when I was here. Their front office made a trade that they thought was best for their team. Same with the Thunder,” Gilgeous-Alexander said while reflecting on the trade years later. “Then the last five years I’ve tried to focus on my development and the team’s development. I’ve tried to be the best basketball player I can be for the Oklahoma City Thunder. And I’d say it worked out in my favor.” Hindsight’s 20/20, but with its benefit many have labeled the trade the ‘worst in NBA history.’ The Thunder have assembled an exciting young roster with SGA the jewel in the crownGetty OKC got younger and better and still have a bunch of picks they’re yet to cash in on. Oklahoma City owns Los Angeles’ first-round pick until 2026, and have already had success with some of those picks so far, adding forward Jalen Williams with the No. 12 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. They have one of the youngest, most exciting cores in The Association — spearheaded by SGA — and have already proved they can hang at the top of the loaded Western Conference after finishing as the No. 1 seed last season before crashing out of the Western Conference semis at the hands of Dallas. Despite the setback, the bottom line is the bottom line – OKC aren’t going anywhere and they’re posit
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander strengthened his status as the NBA’s most potent offensive juggernaut on Tuesday night.
SGA exploded for 39 points on 15-23 shooting as his Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Dallas Mavericks 118-104 to eliminate the Mavs from the NBA Cup at the quarterfinal stage.
Like every other basketball fan, Slovenian sensation Luka Doncic, regarded as one of the NBA’s best, was in awe of perennial MVP candidate Gilgeous-Alexander’s otherworldly performance.
“He’s a great scorer. He gets his teammates involved,” the Mavs star said after the game.
“At some point, you have to send two or three players. It’s amazing to play against a guy like this. Just the battles. It’s fun. He’s an amazing player.”
OKC’s 26-year-old floor general was the best player on the court against last season’s beaten NBA finalists, finishing with 39 points, eight rebounds, and five assists.
SGA is averaging 30.2 points (fourth in the NBA), 6.3 assists, 5.4 rebounds, and almost two steals per game this season.
The two-time All-Star also has the most total points this season (725) and the best +/- rating (a stat that measures a player’s impact on the game by calculating the change in the score [plus or minus] while each player is on the court) of any player in the league (11.5).
It’s not as if these are hollow numbers either, the kind associated with All-Star caliber players on garbage teams who represent their ball club’s entire offense.
Shai is doing all this for a squad who are No. 1 in the Western Conference (19-5), who have just punched their ticket to the NBA Cup semifinals where they will face either the Golden State Warriors or Houston Rockets in Las Vegas.
“You will not see a more dominant scoring attack across the board than what SGA just put on display for the Thunder,” one fan posted on X after the Mavs win.
Former NBA enforcer and First Take regular Kendrick Perkins posted: “SGA is the best offensive perimeter player in the league. You can argue with ya mama on that one. Young fella really like that.”
The cool-as-a-cucumber Canadian has been on an upwards trajectory ever since he landed in Oklahoma City.
But it’s not like Gilgeous-Alexander was a transcendent star out of the gate.
Many forget he was initially drafted by the Charlotte Hornets (11th overall) in the 2018 NBA Draft, the same class as Luka ‘Magic’ and behind players like Marvin Bagley III, Trae Young, Mo Bamba, Wendall Carter Jr, Collin Sexton, and Kevin Knox II.
SGA’s time in North Carolina was short lived, as he was immediately traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, for the pick after him (which ended up being Miles Bridges) and two future second-round picks.
Shai enjoyed a solid rookie season in La La Land before being part of a blockbuster trade package for Paul George in 2019.
The now infamous deal — which saw PG13 going to LA, and Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari and five first-round picks plus two swaps going to Oklahoma City — shook both the NBA and the Clippers which the former is yet to recover from.
On the same night as that bombshell deal, the Clippers signed Kawhi Leonard in free agency to pair with George in the hopes of making the Clippers a championship contender.
Fast forward to the 2024-25 season, and SGA is one of the best players on one of the best teams while George is now with the lowly Philadelphia 76ers and Kawhi Leonard is nothing more than a Load Management All-Star.
“I had a great year here when I was here. Their front office made a trade that they thought was best for their team. Same with the Thunder,” Gilgeous-Alexander said while reflecting on the trade years later.
“Then the last five years I’ve tried to focus on my development and the team’s development. I’ve tried to be the best basketball player I can be for the Oklahoma City Thunder. And I’d say it worked out in my favor.”
Hindsight’s 20/20, but with its benefit many have labeled the trade the ‘worst in NBA history.’
OKC got younger and better and still have a bunch of picks they’re yet to cash in on.
Oklahoma City owns Los Angeles’ first-round pick until 2026, and have already had success with some of those picks so far, adding forward Jalen Williams with the No. 12 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.
They have one of the youngest, most exciting cores in The Association — spearheaded by SGA — and have already proved they can hang at the top of the loaded Western Conference after finishing as the No. 1 seed last season before crashing out of the Western Conference semis at the hands of Dallas.
Despite the setback, the bottom line is the bottom line – OKC aren’t going anywhere and they’re positioned to be a threat for years to come.
The same can’t be said for the Clippers.
The George-Leonard axis ultimately failed, with just one Western Conference Finals appearance to show for the trade.
They played 142 games together in their first four seasons, including playoffs, with a 96-46 record. George left for the Sixers this offseason and Kawhi has struggled with injuries throughout his Clippers tenure.
The Clippers may try to justify the trade since adding James Harden but, but at 35, ‘The Beard’ is no longer the scoring phenom he once was, and the notion of him leading a team to a title at this stage of his career seems fanciful at best.
SGA is right to say the trade worked out in his favor.
In 2023 and 2024 he was named an All-Star and All-NBA First Team members. Last season, he finished the season’s MVP race in second place behind eventual winner Nikola Jokic, although many felt SGA deserved it given the Thunder won 57 games (the best record in the West) and entered the playoffs as the first seed for the first time since 2013.
After a disappointing run with Team Canada at the 2024 Olympics, Gilgeous-Alexander returned to The Association as a man on a mission.
His inside finishing, ability to create space, perimeter threat, and transition game make him a largely unguardable threat likened to some of the game’s greats.
SGA has been compared to a laundry lit of Hall of Famers, including Clyde Drexler, Dwayne Wade, Tracy McGrady, and Kobe Bryant.
His stats last season (points, assists, steals, 2PT%, and 3PT%), for example, were all better than Kobe’s during his 2008 MVP season.
But in many ways, Shai is too unique to compare like for like with anyone from NBA history.
He doesn’t have the raw athleticism of a Wade or Drexler, but his rare combo of length and handles, together with a slithery-ness and inherent crafty nature around the basket, make him an anomaly of a athlete.
It’s a rare kind of skill-set that could see him become the NBA’s first $80 million man.
The bona fide superstar is eligible to sign a supermax extension in the 2025 offseason, locking him in through the 2030-31 season.
The cap growth expected every season thanks to the NBA’s multi-billion annual media rights deal could see Shai’s estimated four-year extension worth roughly $294.3 million, according to Forbes.
That includes $81 million in the 2030-31 season, when Shai will be 32, which would make him the first $80m single-season earner in NBA history.
That would bring SGA’s career NBA earnings to nearly half a billion dollars — an eye-popping figure but one his current performances are certainly befitting of.
