No. 4: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
LA’s rookie point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been nothing short of fantastic in his inaugural season. With each game, it gets harder and harder to believe that this guy is only 20.
The thing that stands out far above any other aspect of Gilgeous-Alexander’s game is his intelligence. He’s smart with the ball, and it seems like he’s almost always making the best decision with it on the fly, whether that be driving to the rim or kicking it back out to an open man along the perimeter.
One thing he can still work on is taking that shot himself, though. There have been several times so far this year when Shai will pass up a wide-open three for a drive to the rim. He still scores more often than not, but with the way this Clippers team is shooting the three-ball, Gilgeous-Alexander needs to contribute as much as possible from deep.
Something I’ve noticed in particular is the way he uses his ability to drive to draw in defenders, and then passing the ball outside, ensuring his teammate has the most space possible to help ensure they knock down the shot.
There’s no better example of Gilgeous-Alexander’s awareness than on this particular assist, though. It’s just beautiful.
Dime. pic.twitter.com/FunIHaXfkr
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) October 22, 2018
SGA’s best game of the young season was this one against Houston, in which he recorded 12 points, five rebounds, four assists, and a steal in just over 25 minutes of action.
He’s already one of the best players on this team. It’ll be very interesting to see how he progresses throughout the season, as well as his next few years in Los Angeles.