Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looked like the NBA’s best rookie point guard at Vegas Summer League

The Clippers rookie has all the tools to be the top rookie point guard in the NBA.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was an afterthought when he arrived at Kentucky one year ago. John Calipari’s incoming recruiting class featured five 5-star recruits, and Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t one of them. But it didn’t take Calipari long to realize who his best player really was.

By the middle of the season, Kentucky’s only real play was giving the ball to Gilgeous-Alexander and letting him create everything. It made him a lottery pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, where he went No. 12 to the Clippers.

So why is Gilgeous-Alexander still underhyped? Despite being the best player on America’s biggest program and a lottery pick taken by a team in one of the country’s largest markets, SGA enters the NBA in relative obscurity compared to his more heralded peers. He was the third point guard off the board, behind Trae Young and Collin Sexton. He wasn’t even the first freshman SEC point guard to be taken — that honor went to Sexton.

It’s time for that obscurity to stop. Gilgeous-Alexander was tremendous in Las Vegas Summer League, showcasing the two-way versatility that makes him a great fit for the modern game. He has all the tools to be the best point guard in this class.

SGA is an elite slasher

Gilgeous-Alexander’s signature skill is driving the ball into the paint and finishing. This was on full display against the Rockets, when he burned Houston to the basket repeatedly.

That’s on De’Anthony Melton, one of the premier perimeter defenders in this rookie class. It didn’t matter. This was the strongest game any rookie played in Vegas (25 points, five rebounds, four assists) largely because there was nothing Houston could do to stop him from getting to the cup.

Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t have the fastest first step, and he’s not the most explosive leaper, but he’s such a smooth ball handler at 6’6, and has the length and craft to finish around the basket from a variety of angles. Watch him hit a wrong-footer runner against the Kings in his second game in Vegas:

This showed up in his college stats at Kentucky, too. He compared favorably to James Harden at Arizona State at the same age in pick-and-roll and isolation situations:

SGA *is* a point guard

There was some debate among NBA people if Gilgeous-Alexander was actually a point guard heading into the draft. He lacks the pull-up jump shooting ability that is so critical for offensive initiators right now. Would he be best as a secondary creator next to another ball handler?

I don’t think so. Gilgeous-Alexander proved his chops as a facilitator in Summer League, using his ability to break down opposing defenses off the dribble to set up his teammates while also showing nice touch on his passes. This bounce pass against the Wizards was immaculate:

Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t going to drop dimes like Trae Young, but he’s proven he’s a capable playmaker who can take care of the ball. Here’s how he stacked up to the other first-round rookie point guards (minus the injured Landry Shamet) in Vegas in turnovers and assists per 100 possessions while on the floor:

Gilgeous-Alexander finished No. 98 in the country in assist rate (28.8) during his one season at Kentucky, a metric that estimates the percentage of field goals made by a team that a particular player assisted on while he was in the game. That college assist rate was better than Sexton, the same as Shamet, and slightly worse than Holiday. His facilitating ability is on par with any rookie point guard in this class outside of Young.

SGA has so much defensive potential

Today’s NBA covets switchable perimeter defenders, and Gilgeous-Alexander fits the mold. He has the length (7-foot wingspan) to defend three or four positions in the NBA, and he will tower over most point guards. He also has quick hands and can get aggressive hunting for the ball.

Gilgeous-Alexander needs to work on the art of navigating screens and certainly needs to add muscle to his lean 180-pound frame, but he has a lot to work with defensively. Just check out how he compares to the other top rookie point guards in block and steal rates, metrics that estimate the percentage of blocks and steals a player forces while he’s on the court.

It will take any 20-year-old some time to figure out NBA defense, but Gilgeous-Alexander has the tools teams are seeking. He’s going to become an incredibly valuable player if he becomes a committed defender.

There’s lots of room to grow, too

The knock on Gilgeous-Alexander entering the draft was his shooting ability, especially on pull-up jumpers. He’ll never be as deadly as Stephen Curry there, but he hit a variety of shots off the dribble in Vegas that are encouraging for his development going forward.

He’s already good enough as a ball handler to break defenders down off the dribble. Now it’s about taking the same advanced footwork that makes him so dangerous around the basket and using it to his advantage on the perimeter, too.

Gilgeous-Alexnader’s true shooting percentage (49.5 percent) in Vegas was still below-average for an NBA guard. He didn’t get to the free throw line as much as you’d like, and he hit only 63 percent of foul shots when he did get there. He also only hit 3-of-12 three-pointer attempts in Vegas after knocking in 40 percent of his threes on a small volume (57 attempts) at Kentucky. So there’s still work to be done.

Gilgeous-Alexander can still grow into a more efficient offensive player and more consistent defender, but his talent is obvious. There are not many 6’6 point guards in the world who can finish at the basket as effectively as him while still being capable of setting up teammates and protecting the ball. He will to fill up the box score on raw tools alone.

If Gilgeous-Alexander continues to get better as a shooter and works to reach his potential on defense, he’s going to look like a steal at No. 12. The Clippers’ post-Lob City era is still murky, but it looks like they’ve found their point guard of the future.