The Thunder may not need Shai Gilgeous-Alexander doing quite so much heavy lifting when the regular season rolls around.
That’s the thinking from Cody Burton of Thunder On SI, who argues Oklahoma City should dial back some of the back-to-back MVP’s on-ball burden after injuries left him carrying a bigger load over the past two seasons. The goal isn’t to shrink his role. It’s to keep him fresher for the games that actually decide things.
Burton points to Ajay Mitchell and Jalen Williams as two players who can take on more creation work, which would let Gilgeous-Alexander spend more time off the ball. And that idea apparently isn’t just coming from the outside.
Canada coach Geordie Herbert said Gilgeous-Alexander recently asked to play more away from the ball during national-team work.
“I think he’s actually tougher to guard off the ball,” Herbert said.
If that means a dip in his regular-season numbers, so be it. Oklahoma City would probably take a slightly lighter workload now if it means a sharper Gilgeous-Alexander in April and May.
Over in Golden State, the Curry debate keeps spinning into wild territory.
Jeff Teague said he thinks the Warriors still could have won the same four championships if Damian Lillard had been the one in Stephen Curry’s spot. Joey Akeley of Warriors On SI pushed right back on that idea, and the pushback makes sense.
Teague was responding to an even bolder claim from Monta Ellis, who recently said Golden State still would have won its four titles if he had replaced Curry. Teague at least landed on a player he could picture producing similar results in Lillard. But Akeley’s point is that Curry was never just a stats guy at point guard.
His movement, shooting, unselfishness and ability to fit alongside other stars helped build the whole Warriors machine. Maybe Golden State wins something with Lillard.
Maybe not. But the idea that the four championships simply carry over ignores how much Curry shaped the dynasty from the ground up.
The Bulls, meanwhile, are trying to figure out what they even are.
With a new front office, a new coach and a projected starting five that has to forge a fresh identity, Elias Schuster of Bulls On SI laid out one key thing each starter needs to bring next season.
For Josh Giddey, it starts with composure. Schuster sees him as the steady hand for a young group, someone who can cut down on turnovers and keep feeding Matas Buzelis and rookie Caleb Wilson.
Norman Powell’s assignment is leadership, both in games and in the locker room. Buzelis has to keep growing into a more aggressive scorer. Wilson’s focus is effort and consistency, especially when the rookie season inevitably gets bumpy.
Then there’s Nic Claxton, whose job is efficiency. His field-goal percentage fell to 57.1 percent last season after he had once topped 70 percent, and Schuster believes getting him back above 60 percent as a finisher would matter a lot for a Chicago team that may have trouble finding easy points.
None of that guarantees a winning season. But it does give the Bulls a clear checklist as they try to define themselves.
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Norman Powell Just Raised The Stakes For This Bulls Season
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Powell has already framed the season in blunt terms, saying this group could go in either direction and stressing that the answer has to come from within, not from outside skepticism. For Chicago, that makes the coming months feel less like a transition and more like a test of belief, and the schedule for the 2026-27 season is set to arrive soon with the first real measuring stick for how high this group can aim. [Read more 🡒]