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Houston Rockets head coach Stephen Silas was posed a simple question as he met with the media following Tuesday’s practice at the Toyota Center.
Silas was asked to identify what is separating the rebuilds in Houston and Oklahoma City at the moment before the two squads face off Wednesday evening. As the Rockets enter Wednesday night firmly in the Western Conference cellar, the Thunder find themselves in the thick of the playoff hunt, far away from the race to the bottom of the lottery in hopes of landing Victor Wembanyama .
Silas highlighted one major reason why Oklahoma City has been able to kickstart its rebuild following All-Star departures across the last half-decade.
“They have a really good player who could be a top-10 player in the league,” Silas said in reference to Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. “Early, he helped them win some games to where their confidence got bigger and bigger and better and better. The way SGA plays, there’s a swagger that comes along with that—not just from him, but the rest of the group.”
Silas’ praise of Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t necessarily hyperbole. He ranks No. 5 league-wide in scoring at 30.9 points per game, and the fifth-year guard sports impressive 51/37/91 shooting splits for the season entering Wednesday night. Oklahoma City’s leading man is an expert craftsman in the pick-and-roll, slithering his way to the tin with a stop-and-start ability unseen by most guards across the league. Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t exactly an explosive athlete like Rockets guard and current face of the franchise Jalen Green . But Silas hopes Green can develop a similar craftiness in the coming years.
“What year is this for [Gilgeous-Alexander]? Year 5?,” Silas said Wednesday. “Yeah, you can change and develop and get stronger, and can find the areas of the game to really attack in that time. And that will happen with Jalen as well.”
It’s more than one player currently separating the Thunder (24–26, in the play-in hunt) and the Rockets (12–38, last in the West) at the moment. Oklahoma City is receiving positive contributions from second-year guard Josh Giddey and rookie Jalen Willaims, and Lu Dort is a versatile psuedo-veteran in his fourth NBA season. As both the Rockets and Thunder work their way out of the NBA wilderness, the team in the Sooner State sports a more cohesive collection of young talent.
Finding the exact right pieces throughout the rotation will be important for both franchises when they eventually return to postseason play. But with regards to earning respectability league-wide, the role of a singular piece can play a major role. Oklahoma City has already found its All-Star (and potential All-NBA) anchor in Gilgeous-Alexander. Reaching those heights is still a work in progress for Green in his second NBA season.
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