Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has struggled to develop a consistently good 3-point shot. It is the one thing preventing him from becoming a complete scorer. But the Oklahoma City Thunder star took it upon himself to work on that aspect of his game. He told reporters that he wanted to be better at the outside shot and improved it during this off-season.
The Thunder star wanted to work on his pull-up 3’s in particular and used the summer and preseason to do so. While speaking to a reporter, he said,
“I wanted to use the preseason to implement my work over the summer… I think I did an OK job at that.”
SGA on his pull-up 3-pointers: “I wanted to use the preseason to implement my work over the summer… I think I did an OK job at that.”
Said he added it over the summer “just for fun.” It was the same thought process for his mid-range shots & stepback 3-pointers over the summers
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 20, 2024
SGA said that he did it “just for fun”, but the impact of having an improved outside shot will be tremendous. It will improve the Thunder’s overall offense and allow for an extra option. Furthermore, Gilgeous-Alexander will take pressure off his teammates and spread the floor with his 3-pointer being a threat.
Is Shai a pull-up 3-point shooter?
Shai has definitely shown promise as a pull-up 3-point shooter, albeit in a small sample size. During the 2023-24 playoffs, he was hot on pull-up 3’s, shooting 50%, making 1.4 of his 2.8 attempts per game. If the Thunder star can implement this across an entire season, he will become an even more lethal scorer.
Unfortunately, he has been unable to capture that magical form across a season. During the 2023-24 regular season, he managed to hit 35.6% of his pull-up 3’s, making 0.9 of his 2.6 attempts per game.
35.6% seems to be connected to SGA as he hit that same percentage of his pull-up 3s during the 2022-23 season as well. The only difference is that he shot a lower volume, making 0.6 of his 1.7 attempts per game.
If Shai can successfully improve his 3-point shot and be consistent during the regular season, it would change the Thunder’s offense. It would make the team’s offense as a whole more potent, with SGA becoming a true option from beyond the arc. Furthermore, with opposing defenses having to respect the OKC star’s 3-pointer, his teammates will have an easier time.
Mastering the pull-up 3-pointer and adding it to his game would finally make Gilgeous-Alexander a complete threat. He already possesses an elite mid-range game along with the ability to do damage in the paint. This final facet of his game being fixed would make him a true 3-level scorer. But only time will show the impact of SGA’s off-season training and his newly improved 3-point shot.
