Shai Gilgous-Alexander, the reigning NBA MVP and current frontrunner to go back-to-back with that award, will be out through at least the All-Star break with an abdominal strain, the team announced Wednesday.
SGA will be re-evaluated after the break. He suffered the injury in the Thunder’s win over the Magic.
Gilgeous-Alexander being out for the All-Star Game means Commissioner Adam Silver will get to pick his replacement on the World Team for the game on Feb. 15 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
SGA’s injury comes as backup point guard Ajay Mitchell is also out for Wednesday’s game against the Spurs with a hip injury (he was out for the Orlando game as well).
The Thunder have been hit with injuries of late, and Wednesday against the Spurs will also be without Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, Lu Dort and Alex Caruso. That said, OKC has a comfortable six-game lead over San Antonio for the No. 1 seed in the West.
Oklahoma City has some guard help coming, trading for the 76ers second-year player Jared McCain.
The Thunder are sending the Rockets’ first-round pick this year (likely in the mid-20s) and three second-round picks for the promising shooting guard with a large social media following. Oklahoma City creates the roster spot by trading Ousmane Dieng to Charlotte for Mason Plumlee, then the Thunder will waive Plumlee.
This is a great pickup for the Thunder. McCain was the early frontrunner for Rookie of the Year last season until injuries derailed that, sidelining him for the season. He still hasn’t been right this season, but in recent weeks, he has looked more like himself and started to find his form. McCain averaged 15.3 points in the 23 games he played pre-injury last season. He recently scored 17 against the Bucks and 12 against the Pelicans, but for the season is averaging 6.6 per game in limited minutes.
For a Thunder team that has some hard financial decisions coming — Holmgren and Williams max extensions kick in next season, Isaiah Hartenstein and Lu Dort are extension-eligible this summer, and Mitchell will be in 2027 — finding good players on rookie contracts who can contribute will be critical. McCain can be that guy.
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