Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will miss the start of the season with a Grade 2 MCL sprain

The Thunder have struggled with injuries over the last year so and now Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will spend time on the sidelines. It was reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic that Shai has a Grade 2 MCL sprain.

Thankfully, Gilgeous-Alexander’s injury is not too serious; Grade 2 sprains usually take 2-4 weeks to recover from. This injury will mean that Gilgeous-Alexander will miss training camps and potentially the first week of the season.

Oklahoman City have had rotten luck with injuries this offseason and this will impact Coach Daigneault’s preparations for the upcoming season. Training camps provides a coach with a few, sacred weeks to convey his tactical concepts to the team and develop cohesion within the group.

Shai being absent will mean that Coach Daigneault will not have a full roster to work with and that the early portion of the season could be rough as Shai returns back to full form. It is not the best news for the coaching staff but Daigneault has dealt well with adversity in the past and I expect him to do the same again.