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SGA MVP Campaign: What Does the Star Guard Need to Improve?

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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander surely had a blockbuster season last year. Going up for a triple-MVP feat in the Thunder’s championship season is historic. The OKC guard won the season MVP, WCF MVP, and the Finals MVP in a single run. That says a lot about how he is certainly becoming the face of the league. After a stunning season, expectations are high for yet another SGA MVP campaign as the Thunder star seeks to cement his place in the game.

Considering that SGA is healthy for next year, there’s still a lot for him to work on. After all, basketball is a game of adjustments, and he knows that well. He’s grown so much from one season to the next since moving to OKC. With the prospect of yet another SGA MVP campaign looming, the expectations are high.

SGA MVP Campaign: What Does the Star Guard Need to Improve?

While he’s already a champion, what does Shai Gilgeous-Alexander need to work on to improve? And will these improvements be enough for him to be the MVP once more?

Improvement 1: Three-Point Shooting

SGA isn’t the mid-range master for nothing. He’s a skilled bucket-getter anywhere inside the arc. So, this is where his three-point shooting comes into play. Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t that much of a threat from three, although he can knock down shots if left unchecked. In his six years with OKC, SGA has only shot above 40% from three once, which was in 2020-21. He shot 41.8% from deep in that year, which is a few notches ahead compared to last season’s 37.5% from three.

In the 2025 NBA Finals, he was quite disappointing from three. Game 7 alone—the biggest stage of his career—saw him finish 2-12 from deep. Overall, he’s made 163 threes out of 435 attempts last season, with the most in a game being five against the Los Angeles Lakers in April. If he’s going to solidify his MVP case for this year, this is one of the biggest improvements he has to make.

Imagine opponents struggling to make decisions in guarding him. He’s already a threat in driving to the rim, and his mid-range play is very hard to predict. So if SGA adds a solid three-point shot to his skillset, then he’d be an unstoppable scorer and may win the scoring title for the second year in a row.

Improvement 2: Playmaking

There’s no doubt that the Thunder guard’s playmaking has been brought into the spotlight many times, especially in the postseason. As good as he is when it comes to adjusting, SGA finished the previously-mentioned Game 7 with 12 assists—the most he’s had in an NBA Finals. Whenever he’s finding his teammates, the MVP is also flourishing the Thunder offense. OKC is a massive threat when he is playmaking, and that says a lot about how his assist game has to improve.

That’s already an improvement in the works. SGA finished this season averaging a career-high 6.4 assists, so that’s a fair talking point to begin with. Still, he still has to take it up a notch with most of star guards in the MVP talks putting up double-digit assist averages. Let’s not forget the fact that Gilgeous-Alexander utilizes his teammates Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren to begin with. Also, putting up better assist numbers will put him at least on par with Nikola Jokic‘s case, who has been putting up an impressive MVP run year after year so far with his triple-doubles.

Improvement 3: Shot Selection

There’s no doubt that SGA plays an efficient game. He’s a 50.1% shooter for his whole career, and yet he’s still missing a ton of shots as he’s making them. Fellow MVP picks in Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo are all known for being efficient in their field goals (mostly from inside the paint), but this is a much bigger challenge for Gilgeous-Alexander as he is a guard. Still, one of the facets that can help his efficiency is his shot selection. Sure, hero balls count, but hunting those every single time hurts his game.

As most experts say, he needs to let the game come to him, instead of forcing his way. SGA is a star player who can work his way to rack up points at will, and that makes him a lethal scorer to begin with. However, his base game still has a long way to go, and it means he can take it up to another level in the long run. That’s definitely a huge boost to SGA’s MVP campaign in the long run.

Can SGA Win the MVP Again?

In the last six years, only Jokic and Antetokounmpo have won back-to-back MVPs. And now, both stars are making a strong case for the award heading into the season. Gilgeous-Alexander is leading Oklahoma City to its rise to prominence, and it’s hard to argue that he has a strong chance to win it as well. It is expected that he would be gunning for a massive finish at the top of the MVP race.

The Thunder star is making his presence felt, and he continues to improve his game. That’s unsurprising following a huge extension with OKC. One can say that an SGA MVP campaign will have the last word this coming season. It is a time for Gilgeous-Alexander to cement his place in NBA history. This is a chance for the reigning MVP to show why he deserves the stardom. The coming season is his biggest stage, and he is gunning for it all.

© Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

The post SGA MVP Campaign: What Does the Star Guard Need to Improve? appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.