Matching up against Buddy Hield, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander smelled blood in the water. A couple of dribble moves were all he needed before he pulled up on the stepback 3-pointer that swished in. He didn’t say any words, but his death glare spoke enough for him. The outside bucket squashed any fears of an upset.

Always adding new layers to his all-time game, Gilgeous-Alexander has added an extra level to his scoring package. In an on-again, off-again relationship with the outside shot, he’s on the best terms he’s ever had from beyond the perimeter.

Gilgeous-Alexander looks like he’s on his way to his fourth consecutive superb-efficient 30-plus point campaign. Can’t get spoken enough about how historic that is. For reference, Kevin Durant has only had two 30-point campaigns; James Harden has had three. The reigning MVP will notch his fourth at 27 years old.

One of the newer ways he’s done with is with his outside shooting. Gilgeous-Alexander is shooting an eye-popping 43.4% from 3 on 5.1 attempts this season. He’s flirting with a 50-40-90 campaign — ironically enough, his 87.9% free-throw shot is the only number in the way of that.

What has Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault seen from Gilgeous-Alexander’s rejuvenated outside shot? Tied to the hip for six seasons, he’s seen the NBA superstar continuing to reinvent himself and force opposing defenses to stay honest with him at all three levels.

“He’s put in a lot of time into this. It hasn’t been a one-summer process. It’s been a multi-year process,” Daigneault said. “The benefit it brings us is people think about floor spacing and they often think about 3-point shooting and what that does for your spacing. That spaces the floor horizontally. You can also space the floor vertically.”

When you think of all-time outside shooters like Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard, you think of how wide their halfcourt offenses get. Anytime they cross the halfcourt logos, opposing teams have to be attentive with their endless range from deep. It’s what turned them into NBA superstars.

While Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t have the same limitless range, his pull-up game has drawn enough attention to steer away defenders from the paint. That opens up spots that the Thunder can take advantage of and get easy looks around the rim with a dump-off pass or alley-oop.

“One way to do that is with rollers. Like Hartenstein is a great vertical spacer because he puts rim pressure. The other way to space the floor vertically is with off-the-dribble 3-point shooting threats,” Daigneault said. “That’s what he’s doing right now. You have to go play him higher.”

We’ll see if the percentages keep up, but more importantly, Gilgeous-Alexander has gained a reputation as an outside threat. He’s buried outside jumpers to put teams away in clutch time when necessary. Ask Hield. That matters more in the long run as the Thunder bury their opponents on the scoreboard.

Mark Daigneault on SGA’s 3-point shooting: “It’s been this ongoing relationship and ongoing work… He’s put in a lot of time into this. It hasn’t been a 1-summer process. It’s been a multi-year process. The benefit it brings us is people think about floor spacing and they often… pic.twitter.com/NrSwgP3nKH

— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) December 4, 2025