Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Shaivonte Aician Gilgeous-Alexander is a Canadian basketball player who represents the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA. He was picked as the 11th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets and was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers immediately.

Shai was deemed to as a four-star recruit by ESPN and originally committed to Florida Gators. Soon after, he re-opened his recruitment and his following schools were Kentucky, Kansas, Syracuse, Texas and UNLV. A month later he revealed his decision to play college basketball for Kentucky.

Shai was a reserve initially for his college team, starting as a backup to Quade Green but still averaged over 30 minutes per game. He had a brilliant game against the Louisville where he recorded 24 points, grabbing 5 rebounds, dishing out 4 assists, and securing 3 steals. He lead the team against Georgia and LSU, where he managed to score 21 points and 18 points respectively. He was a major contributor in what was a tough year for the college team.

Shai recorded a terrific SEC tournament and continued that momentum in the NCAA Tournament. Kentucky eventually lost steam as they crashed to a defeat against Kansas State in the Sweet 16. On April 9, 2018, he declared his eligibility for the NBA draft.

After being picked by the Charlotte Hornets, he was traded to the Clippers in return for Miles Bridges and two future second round picks. He appeared in the 2018 NBA Summer League where he averaged 19 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2.3 steals per game. He had his career-high game against the Golden State Warriors where he scored 25 points in game 4 loss in the playoffs. Shai was also named as a member of the world team in the NBA Rising Stars Challenge.

Shai was traded during the off season along with Danilo Gallinari, five first-round draft picks, and the rights to swap two other first round picks to the OKC Thunder in return for Paul George.

In his pre season debut against the Dallas Mavericks, Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist in their 119-104 win. On December, he recorded his career-high against his former employers after dropping 32 points with 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals.

With OKC in contention for a playoff position, they'll once again be looking to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to lead the way.