—“Gilgeous-Alexanderās cleanest path to eclipsingĀ JokiÄ for MVP will come in the win column. His statistical case is stout. Thereās no way to prove heās ultimately atĀ JokiÄās level until the playoffs. But the Thunder are currently tied with theĀ [Nuggets](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/nuggets/)Ā at 45-20 for the conferenceās best record.”
—“At minimum, it appears Holmgren will be All-Rookie First Team and Gilgeous-Alexander will be All-NBA First Team. Thatāll be the second straight season the franchise has checked both boxes. Gilgeous-Alexander finished All-NBA First Team last season and Williams finished All-Rookie First Team (second in ROY voting). That hasnāt been done in back-to-back seasons by the same franchise since the Showtime Lakers in the early 1980s.
—“āWeāve been able to kind of click on a little two-man action,ā Williams said. āEvery team has to make sacrifices, so itās not super unique to us. I think itās just. In what ways? There might be times where you donāt touch the ball necessarily a lot. So I think for Chet, heās kind of understood that he can make up for it defensively and one of the things Iām learning is how to keep him involved offensively.ā
Dort kept it simpler: āNobody cries about shot selection or anything like that. Like, we just really want to see the team win and succeed. We know who is our All-Star. We know what Chet can do, what Jalen can do, what (Josh) Giddey can do, what I can do.ā”
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Edit: [THE Athletic} lol
Excerpts:
—“Perhaps nothing displays the combo reality quite as clear as the historical rarity of Holmgren andĀ [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/shai-gilgeous-alexander-Ghni3y9TrL9rBSl5/)ās combo season. Holmgren, pretty clearly, sits in a two-man race for Rookie of the Year withĀ [Victor Wembanyama](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/victor-wembanyama-0lNu4P1JXZca9gqU/). Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, has separated himself as the clearest alternative to NikolaĀ JokiÄ for MVP. Vegas currently gives Gilgeous-Alexander the second-best odds.”
—“Gilgeous-Alexanderās cleanest path to eclipsingĀ JokiÄ for MVP will come in the win column. His statistical case is stout. Thereās no way to prove heās ultimately atĀ JokiÄās level until the playoffs. But the Thunder are currently tied with theĀ [Nuggets](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/nuggets/)Ā at 45-20 for the conferenceās best record.”
—“At minimum, it appears Holmgren will be All-Rookie First Team and Gilgeous-Alexander will be All-NBA First Team. Thatāll be the second straight season the franchise has checked both boxes. Gilgeous-Alexander finished All-NBA First Team last season and Williams finished All-Rookie First Team (second in ROY voting). That hasnāt been done in back-to-back seasons by the same franchise since the Showtime Lakers in the early 1980s.
Not all promising young cores pan out exactly as expected or produce multiple titles. This Thunder franchise once drafted three straight future MVPs (Kevin Durant,Ā [Russell Westbrook](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/russell-westbrook-6Eb0XPY16UzzJWbc/),Ā [James Harden](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/james-harden-xj359Qh34ugWFbVp/)), experienced tons of success, but never made it over the championship mountain.Ā So thereās reason to live in the more cautionary present.”
—“āWeāve been able to kind of click on a little two-man action,ā Williams said. āEvery team has to make sacrifices, so itās not super unique to us. I think itās just. In what ways? There might be times where you donāt touch the ball necessarily a lot. So I think for Chet, heās kind of understood that he can make up for it defensively and one of the things Iām learning is how to keep him involved offensively.ā
Dort kept it simpler: āNobody cries about shot selection or anything like that. Like, we just really want to see the team win and succeed. We know who is our All-Star. We know what Chet can do, what Jalen can do, what (Josh) Giddey can do, what I can do.ā”