4 NBA players ready to step into superstar roles

1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

The Oklahoma City Thunder are the third-best team in the Western Conference. A phrase like that feels like it would be foreign for a team housing 15 potential first round picks and 22 potential second-round picks over the next seven off-seasons. The Thunder are a young team with an abundance of assets and a 25-year-old Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as their most-skilled veteran and second-longest-tenured NBA player. 

Gilgeous-Alexander’s talents have always been at the forefront; however, teams would try to poach him from Oklahoma City under the premise of saving him from being buried in obscurity. Both, the team, and the player remained committed to each other though, and are reaping the benefits. 

The one-time all-star and All-NBA Frist Team player currently leads the association in steals with 2.8 per game, sits at number five in scoring with 30.7 points per game, and is top-20 in assists with 6.3 per game. 

Not only is he drawing eyes to a small market team, but the NBA is banking on Gilgeous-Alexander putting money in their corporate pockets as the face of the league’s new SKIMS partnership with co-founder and creative director, Kim Kardashian. Canada’s top player is poised to become one of the NBA’s next superstars on and off the court.