Opinion
When Josh Giddey was selected with the No.6 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, it was seen as a bit of a reach by Oklahoma City to take him that high.
Midway through his second season and the Thunder are being lauded for their savvy selection of the young Australian.
If you did a redraft, Giddey would probably go even higher. Detroit prospect Cade Cunningham would probably still be the No.1 selection, Orlando’s Franz Wagner would rocket up from eighth and Cleveland big Evan Mobley (third overall) would still go early but Giddey is giving them a run for their money.
Last season’s rookie of the year, Scottie Barnes (who was chosen fourth), is having a sophomore slump at Toronto while Houston’s flashy guard Jalen Green (second overall) can put up points but hasn’t shown much else.
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And it’s Giddey’s all-round game which is earning him rave reviews again this season. He was impressive as a rookie but is now becoming more of a floor general for the Thunder, building potent chemistry with his backcourt partner, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a lock to be a first-time All-Star.
(Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Giddey’s bulked up his slender frame and is able to absorb contact better than last season as he drives through the trees in the paint.
With 16 points, 5.9 assists and eight rebounds through his first 40 games of the season, he’s basically becoming a similar offensive version of what Ben Simmons was at Philadelphia without his fellow Australian’s elite defensive prowess.
But while Simmons’ attacking skills hit a plateau at the 76ers and have dropped off a cliff in his comeback season at Brooklyn, it’s easy to see Giddey becoming a 20-plus scorer per game in the next season or two while filling up the box score in other areas and also adding to his defensive repertoire.
At 6’8″ and around 220 pounds, he’s one of the biggest point guards in the NBA, which means even if he’s not as athletic as some of his counterparts, he’s got the size to make scoring tough.
His three-point shooting was supposedly one of the big knocks on Giddey’s game when he made the leap from the Adelaide 36ers to the NBA via the NBL’s Next Star program.
He averaged a mere 26% in his rookie season but has improved that to 33% this year, which is better than most of his draft lottery rivals – Green is shooting at 32.7% from beyond the arc, Cunningham was 27.9% before he got injured, Barnes is at 28.2% and Wagner is only marginally better than the Aussie at 35.8%.
Earlier this week, Giddey matched his career-high with 28 points in a road win over Brooklyn while Simmons sat in street clothes due to his back problems flaring up again.
Giddey ranked up his 17th double-double of the season, which is the most among his second-year class, in the Thunder’s 126-106 win over the Pacers in OKC on Thursday, finishing with 16 points, 11 assists and six rebounds.
The 20-year-old and his Thunder teammates could be headed to the post-season ahead of schedule if they continue their recent purple patch.
They’ve won seven of their past 10 outings to leapfrog some much better credentialed teams like Phoenix, Portland, Minnesota and the Lakers into ninth spot in the Western Conference with a 22-23 record.
As it stands, they’d be in the play-in tournament to become one of the final eight sides in the West but is that what OKC execs actually want?
They kinda hit the draft jackpot last year when they scored the No.2 pick and were able to snare Chet Holmgren, the seven-foot Gonzaga University centre who was one of the more hyped prospects in recent years.
Holmgren has been forced to miss his entire rookie season due to a dreaded Lisfranc injury in his foot.
The Thunder were predicted to happily be in the also-rans again this season to get another shot at the draft sweepstakes but with SGA and Giddey running the show and the wins piling up, they have to decide whether it’s now time to go for an early playoff push with their young squad.
They’ve had a habit of shutting down their better players like Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey late in the season in recent years with dubious injuries to increase their lottery odds but coach Mark Daigneault
“The team is growing in confidence, and the confidence is kind of a collective confidence,” Daigneault said after the emphatic win over the Pacers.
“It’s not like an individual player just playing on a ridiculous streak or anything like that. The group is gaining confidence together, and we want to be a team that the whole is better than the sum of the parts.”
Giddey wants nothing but to keep winning: “We’ve grown a lot from the start of the year,” he said. “We’ve made improvements, but there’s so much room for growth, still.”
Keep away from the tank, Thunder. Go for the playoffs. Even if you throw the rest of this season away, the flatter draft odds mean you’re no guarantee to get a fourth game-changing star on your roster.
An unlikely trip to the playoffs, like New Orleans did last year when they forced their way into the West via the play-in tournament, can do wonders for a young team like OKC who are clearly on an upward trajectory thanks to their wise decision to go for Giddey.
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