Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 24.5 points, five rebounds and 5.9 assists in 2021-22.
The Oklahoma City Thunder will open training camp without guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander after the team announced Wednesday he is suffering from an MCL injury. Per the team, Gilgeous-Alexander has a grade 2 sprain and will miss the start of training camp.
Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has a Grade 2 left MCL sprain and will miss the start of training camp, team says.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 21, 2022
The Thunder were already somewhat thinned going into training camp as Chet Holmgren, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 draft, was ruled out for the season. He suffered a Lisfranc injury to his right foot while playing in Seattle at The CrawsOver pro-am in August.
Gilgeous-Alexander stepped forward in his fourth year and had the look of a franchise player. For the season, the guard averaged 24.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.9 assists. He averaged 30.4 points on 54% shooting in 13 games after the All-Star break before getting shut down for the season with a sore right ankle. He scored at least 30 points in 10 of his last 13 games.
The Thunder’s core includes Gilgeous-Alexander, 2021 No. 6 overall pick Josh Giddey, Lu Dort, Darius Bazley and Tre Mann. Dort is one of the league’s best defensive players when healthy. Bazley is an athletic wing player and Mann was an explosive scorer off the bench. Gilgeous-Alexander, the oldest player in that group, is just short of his 24th birthday.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
