By: Ryan Stein

The NBA playoffs usually produce a few young stars, with the spotlight that comes from the increased pressure really pushing some players to ascend to new levels of play. Last year, Pascal Siakam became a shocking number two option on an NBA championship team. This year, it's going to be Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder who reveals himself as one of the next young breakout stars of the NBA playoffs.

Welcome back to Far-Fetched Friday, where every Friday we give you a bold prediction that we believe will come to fruition. This Far-Fetched Friday concerns arguably the most pleasantly surprising team of the season so far and their break out star.

SGA already turned some heads during the regular season with his play, dropping a stat line of 19.3 PPG, 6.1 RPG, and 3.3 APG on solid shooting percentages. Being on a small market team like the Thunder, however, Gilgeous-Alexander hasn't really had the opportunity to be in the NBA spotlight. That will change come playoff time, where the stakes are at their highest. Having a veteran point guard like Chris Paul to help keep him focused will be huge, and should the standings hold to form and the Thunder go up against the Utah Jazz, Shai will be able to have a field day against the likes of Donovan Mitchell.

While the Thunder are unlikely to have a deep run in this year's playoffs, there will still be positives to take away from as the offseason looms. Gilgeous-Alexander's performance in the playoffs has the potential to be an enormous source of optimism when talking about the future of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Expect the 21-year-old to show that the trade involving himself and Paul George was not just an outright win for his former team, the Los Angeles Clippers. This year's playoffs put Shai in an excellent position to solidify himself as a franchise cornerstone moving forward.