Oklahoma City Thunder stock up, stock down

The Oklahoma City Thunder made a surprising leap into the play-in tournament, where they knocked off the ninth-seeded New Orleans Pelicans before falling to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Here are four Thunder players whose stock is trending up, or down.

Stock Up

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: The trade that sent Paul George to the L.A. Clippers looks better for Oklahoma City every month. Not only did OKC get five first-round picks and two pick swaps, but they also got Gilgeous-Alexander, who made his first All-Star team last season.

SGA averaged 31.4 points, 5.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game while shooting over 50 percent from the floor. He was a relentless attacker, driving to the hoop a league-leading 23.9 times per game - Ja Morant was a distant second with 20.3. He shot nearly 11 free throws per game and made over 90 percent of his foul shots, making him one of the most efficient offensive weapons in the NBA.

He's arguably been a better player than George since the trade. Despite a foot injury limiting Gilgeous-Alexander to 35 games in 2020-21, he's still played 40 more games than George. He's averaged more points (24.7 to 23.2), more assists, shot a higher percentage from the field and turned the ball over less often (2.5 per game to George's 3.2). Plus, he's eight years younger, and won't turn 25 until this summer.

SGA is a franchise cornerstone. The Paul George trade also delivered a ton of building blocks.

Jalen Williams: One of the picks from that deal became a lottery pick when the Clippers missed the playoffs in 2022. OKC got a find at No. 12 with Jalen Williams out of Santa Clara - not to be confused with Jaylin Williams out of Arkansas, who the Thunder took in the second round.

Williams was a revelation, making the All-Rookie first team and finishing second to Paolo Banchero in the Rookie of the Year vote. Like Gilgeous-Alexander, he got to the hoop a lot, taking 37 percent of his shots within three feet of the basket, and shooting over 70 percent at the rim. His steal rate was 2.1 percent, second only to SGA, and unlike his teammate, Williams became a threat from long-range late in the season, canning 42.9 percent of his three-pointers after the All-Star break.

The Thunder got a player who can score efficiently, doesn't demand the ball and can defend guards or small forwards. If his three-point improvement is real, then OKC may have a future All-Star on their hands.

Stock Down

Aleksej Pokusevski: Known as "Poku", the 7-foot, 205-pound Pokusevski is one of the strangest and most intriguing prospects in the NBA. On a team full of long, slender players, Poku may be the longest and skinniest. He struggled in his first two seasons after the Thunder traded for him in 2020 - Poku went No. 17. He spent significant time in the G League his first two seasons, as his offense was quite rough.

This year, Poku started to hit three-pointers, going 36.5 percent from deep, cutting down his turnovers and blocking twice as many shots as last year. But after 31 games and 25 starts, he suffered a broken leg and played just three more games.

He showed potential last season, but on the Thunder, a team bursting with young talent, players simply don't get much time to make an impact. Barring a trade, the Thunder will be adding another lottery pick at No. 12, two second-rounders at No. 37 and No. 50. Plus, another skilled, ultra-skinny big man, Chet Holmgren, is coming back. He's got one year left on his rookie deal, but don't be surprised if Poku is on a new team next fall.

Lu Dort: Dort can be an excellent perimeter defender, but he had an up-and-down season offensively for the Thunder. Part of that was his wildly inconsistent three-point shooting. Overall, Dort made 33 percent of his triples, but his percentages swung wildly. In January, he made 44.1 percent of his three-pointers. In March and April, it was 28.3 percent.

The more troubling problem is Dort's shooting at the rim, where he makes just 48.1 percent of his shots. That puts him in the bottom 6 percent of finishers among wings - and he's been bad at that his whole career.

Plus, the advanced statistics don't support Dort's defensive reputation. He's considered a negative in box score plus/minus, and the Thunder are slightly worse with him on court. That may be a testament to OKC's strong bench rather than an indictment of Dort, but he hasn't been locking down his starting spot. In Oklahoma City, there are always more prospects coming.