Why Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is positioned to win Rookie of the Year

1. The right coach

It’s become fashionable lately to minimize the impact of Doc Rivers. He certainly has done things that merit criticism since winning a championship with the Boston Celtics. But when you look at the job he did last season, you can make the argument that it was his strongest season as a head coach.

Rivers has a history of working with and mentoring point guards. There even are some parallels between early career Rajon Rondo, before he become obsessed with dominating possessions, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Throughout his career, Rivers has been praised for his ability to build and manage relationships with players, but when you look closer, his greatest strengths seem to be related to his skills as a tactician. His teams have historically performed well out of timeouts and he tends to get the most out of his roster. The biggest problems with Rivers in L.A. have been related to his moves as a general manager, a duty that he has since been relieved of.

The number of obstacles Rivers and the Clippers faced last season truly is remarkable. Patrick Beverley, Danillo Gallinari, Avery Bradley and Milos Teodosic all missed significant time with injuries. Even Blake Griffin missed nine games before being traded to the Detroit Pistons.

Yet despite these obstacles, the Clippers had the eighth-best offense in the league and finished the year with 42 wins. Rivers had the team play with the sixth-quickest pace in the league and will likely try to up that number if his guards can stay healthy.

This is the type of system that should allow Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to play to his strengths and put up impressive numbers as a rookie. If the team can stay healthy, it has the potential to surprise people in the Western Conference.

The combination of depth around him, a system that fits, and a coach with the ability to bring the best out of him makes the Clippers a nearly ideal landing spot for Gilgeous-Alexander. Even if they finish outside the playoffs, they should have enough team success to keep him in the Rookie of the Year conversation. Now he just needs to capitalize on the opportunity.