The Roar
The Roar

Basketball
Advertisement

Opinion

After an impressive rookie season, what's next for Josh Giddey?
Matthew Hallett new author
Roar Rookie
8th August, 2022
1
Join the conversation
Advertisement
Write for The Roar

Anyone can contribute to The Roar and have their work featured alongside some of Australia’s most prominent sports journalists.

Autoplay in... 6 (Cancel)
Up Next No more videos! Playlist is empty -
Replay
Cancel
Next
Matthew Hallett new author
Roar Rookie
8th August, 2022
1

When the OKC Thunder selected Josh Giddey with the sixth pick of the 2021 NBA draft, it was met with mixed emotions.

The Australian basketball community was so excited, we all knew just how good he was. However, as is usual, the NBA community was a little muted in their response. After all, they did not know much about Giddey at the time.

Then, in his first Summer League prior to the 2021-22 season, Giddey injured his ankle in the first game. At this point, due to his numbers not being great thanks to the timing of the injury, he was being called a bust, especially on social media.

Well, when he took to the court in the regular season, Giddey showed what it means to be the rookie of the year in the NBL. He showed, with his tremendously diverse talent, just what an impact he was going to have in the NBA.

It only took five games in the NBA to record his first double-double, an 18-point, 10-assist effort. Tellingly, this was the Thunder’s first win of the season.

Then, in December, Giddey flirted with a triple-double, collecting eight points, 10 assists, and an incredible 18 rebounds. Not bad for a rookie who was meant to be a bust, hey. He then went and did something truly special, he had a double-double of 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

What was different about this was he did not score. This is a true team double-double.

Then Giddey became the youngest player to collect a triple-double with 17 points, 14 assists, and 13 rebounds against the Dallas Mavericks. Then, just prior to him being shut down for the last 23 games of the season Giddey had three straight triple-doubles, something that has never been done by a rookie in the history of the NBA.

Advertisement
Josh Giddey in action

(Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

This led to an All-Rookie team selection for the young Australian which was about all you could expect playing three-quarters of the season. So now, where does the second-year player go from here with an OKC Thunder team that is in the middle of a rebuild?

Well, the answer is simple. Giddey needs to continue to facilitate for the rest of his team, doing all of the little things that make him such a valuable member of the team. The Thunder have the skills of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to lead this team and have also added the No.2 draft pick Chet Holmgren, who has the potential to be anything.

The bond that he has with Holmgren already is something to behold. While Holmgren and Giddey were an incredible double act in Summer League, the regular season is a totally different animal.

Holmgren is going to receive more attention from seasoned professionals than he would be used to. It is up to Giddey to help make life easier on his rookie in any way that he can.

On top of that, he needs to strengthen the chemistry that he has with his superstar Gilgeous-Alexander. The Thunder are looking to announce themselves in the playoffs rather than appear in them when they make it back, according to general manager Sam Presti.

In order to do this the second-year Thunder man needs to build on his impressive rookie season. It is going to be fun to watch.

Advertisement
1
Join the conversation

Build your own ultimate team!  Pick your key players and take a shot at big cash prizes every day with Draftstars.  For great odds on NBA games every day head on over to PlayUp.  Imagine what you could be buying instead.  Set a deposit limit.

Related Posts

close