With a maximum salary of 365 million in 6 years, he will step up at critical moments! Will Alexander become the number one player in the league?

The new NBA season is behind the scenes, and some clues can be seen in the opening two games. First of all, in the absence of James, the Lakers' new lineup lacks competitiveness. Reeves can't play the 3 position, and Doncic can't stand alone. The Lakers' entire foundation is very poor. How many points does Doncic need to score to fill the hole? Although there has been constant bad news for the Warriors throughout the offseason, including that the team's overall structure is old and short, Butler is still the same Butler. As long as necessary, there is no problem with 16 free throws in a game. The opponent can only foul to stop it. The biggest surprise for the Warriors comes from Kuminga. He is more motivated to defend and is willing to find teammates for the ball in offense. If he plays like this, he is worth at least 35 million, and the Warriors have no need to trade him.

Many teams in the Western Conference are capable of winning the championship, including the Clippers, Rockets, and Nuggets, but the biggest favorite to win the new season is the Thunder. In the opening game, the Thunder narrowly defeated the Rockets by 1 point in double overtime. While second-in-command Jay Wei was still recovering from injury, Alexander suddenly broke out: he scored 11 points in the first three quarters, but in the fourth quarter and two overtimes, Alexander scored 24 points and made 10 crucial free throws. This is also the 10th time in Alexander's career that he has scored at least 35 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks in a single game. He is the fourth active player in the NBA, second only to James (19 times), Harden (14 times), and Antetokounmpo (10 times). Last season, Alexander had a Grand Slam of personal honors: MVP+All-NBA Team+Western Conference Finals MVP+Finals MVP+Scoring Champion, but it was highly controversial.

The controversial point lies in Alexander's "air whistle". In many cases that did not constitute an actual foul, the referee gave Alexander a free throw. But one thing that is easily overlooked is his scoring attributes at critical moments! During the offseason, the Thunder chose to reward the players generously after winning the championship. They renewed Jaywe's contract for 289 million for five years, Holmgren for 239 million for five years, and Alexander for 285 million for four years. Alexander's original contract has 2 years left. Starting from this season, the salary will be: 38.33 million + 40.81 million + 63.71 million + 68.8 million + 73.9 million + 78.99 million, for a total of 365 million super maximum salary in 6 years. Alexander's salary this season only ranks 34th in the league, which is at the same level as Porter Jr. of the Nets and Ingram of the Raptors, and not as high as Harden (39.18 million).

The Thunder have improved every year since the 21-22 season, with 24 wins and 58 losses in the 21-22 season; 40 wins and 42 losses in the 22-23 season; 57 wins and 25 losses in the 23-24 season; and 68 wins and 14 losses last season. Since last season, Alexander's style of play has quietly changed: from maintaining regular firepower output to a covert role. With the rise of Jaywee and Holmgren, Alexander usually lets his teammates score first. This is very similar to Curry of the Warriors. If it is really a stalemate or at a disadvantage, he will do it himself! At the same time, Alexander has averaged at least 30 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game for three consecutive seasons! There is another statistic: Alexander scored 14 points at critical moments in the first 4 games of the finals last season (there were no critical moments in the last three games), third in history!

Historically second only to Wade's 15 points in 2006 and Horry's 15 points in 2005! This is also what he is criticized for the most, that is, he takes a lot of free throws at critical moments. But one example is enough. In the opening game against the Rockets, in the second overtime, Alexander named Durant. Durant could only continue to fake moves and pay fouls. He really couldn't guard Alexander! In Alexander's own words, winning the championship really enhances our self-confidence, makes the game more calm, and allows us to know how to win the game. Obviously as the core of the team, when the Thunder's lower limit is high enough, even if Jay Wei is not there, there are still Holmgren + Mitchell + Wiggins + Caruso and others to maintain the basic situation. Alexander only needs to be responsible for raising the upper limit.

In the past five years, from data to irreplaceable value, the best performer in the NBA must be Jokic. Jokic also proved himself by leading the team to win the championship in 2023. But last season, Alexander gradually approached Jokic from PER value to On-Off value. But there is an essential gap between the two. In games where Jokic scores high points, it is often difficult for the Nuggets to win. For example, he scored 61 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against the Timberwolves last season; he scored 56 points, 16 rebounds and 8 assists against the Wizards! First of all, if the Nuggets take away Jokic, their overall foundation is indeed poor, and their net efficiency is no different from that of the Pelicans and Jazz. But it is also true that Jokic's key game attributes are not high. For example, in the last game of last season, the Nuggets were defeated by 32 points. Jokic's 20 points on 5 of 9 shots was not enough.

Whether it is the overall performance of the team or attributes at critical moments, Alexander has gradually grown into the league's number one player. Although there are still various doubts about his dissatisfaction with his free throws, is there a possibility that the opponent really can't do anything to him? In the past five seasons, the overall shooting percentage has exceeded 50% in four seasons. This is already comparable to Jordan's existence, and free throws seem to come naturally. Of course, this season is Alexander's best chance to prove himself. He is only 27 years old and has a high probability of leading the Thunder to create a new NBA dynasty in the future.