“That’s who I’m as a participant and to do this is thrilling.”
Whereas there was no assure Josh Giddey was going to be traded by the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder this offseason, there was at all times a way a recent begin was in his greatest pursuits.
Giddey stated as a lot himself, with out really saying that explicitly.
That earlier quote got here from the 21-year-old’s exit interview final month, the place an sincere Giddey opened up on how he dealt with his “rollercoaster” third yr within the NBA.
Whereas the vast majority of the questions put to him that day centred round his playoff benching towards Dallas and future in Oklahoma Metropolis, he was additionally requested in regards to the upcoming Paris Olympics.
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‘That is no indictment on Josh’ | 06:21
Particularly, one reporter puzzled whether or not suiting up for the Boomers might assist him construct in the direction of subsequent season, though after all at this level it was within the context of enjoying for OKC.
“It’s a special function,” Giddey stated.
“I’m going to have the ball in my palms much more with Australia, initiating the offence and setting guys up.
“That’s who I’m as a participant and to do this is thrilling.”
That’s who I’m. These 4 phrases, even within the context of a query in regards to the Boomers, have been yet one more reminder of why it didn’t work out for Giddey in what we now know was his last yr with the Thunder, after being traded on Friday to the Chicago Bulls in a deal that sees Alex Caruso despatched to Oklahoma Metropolis.
That’s who Giddey is and at all times was as a participant. However he wasn’t that participant in a Thunder crew that was spoilt for alternative when it got here to playmaking choices.
Once you mix Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s fast rise to superstardom with the emergence of Jalen Williams and rookie massive man Chet Holmgren, Giddey was the odd man out — pressured to play in a job that didn’t play to his strengths.
Those self same strengths which Giddey flashed in his Boomers debut on the FIBA World Cup final yr, thriving in a extra ball-dominant function as he completed with 14 factors, 9 rebounds, and eight assists in a 98-72 win over Finland.
With it, Giddey turned the primary participant within the twenty first century to have greater than 10 factors, 5 rebounds and 5 assists of their first World Cup sport since, you guessed it, LeBron James.
And Giddey was consistently rewriting the document books and placing his title amongst legendary ones like LeBron in his rookie yr with Oklahoma Metropolis, once more, when he was enjoying in a job that was higher suited to his sport.
All of that is to say that as a lot as Giddey beloved it in Oklahoma Metropolis and the Thunder beloved him again, this was a transfer that needed to occur for each events.
Right here, foxsports.com.au breaks down what the commerce means for each the Thunder and Bulls together with what Australian NBA followers can anticipate from Giddey in his first season in new colors.
SO, FIRST OFF — WHO WON THE TRADE?
Look, some trades that originally look horrible can appear like masterstrokes in hindsight.
The Bulls will likely be hoping that is a type of cases as a result of even when Giddey goes again to enjoying the way in which he did in his first two seasons with OKC, it is a slam dunk win for the Thunder.
That isn’t an indictment on Giddey as a participant or his expertise however on a Bulls entrance workplace that has seemingly come round to the realisation they should re-tool an getting older roster that has for a couple of seasons now not likely been able to compete for a title.
And but, regardless of that obtrusive actuality, Chicago frequently ran it again and determined towards making any main strikes on the commerce deadline within the hope of probably turning into greater than only a crew that settles for making the primary spherical of the playoffs.
However even that may be a win for a Bulls crew that has solely certified for the primary spherical as soon as previously 5 years.
As a substitute, the introduction of the NBA’s play-in match has given Chicago a fair decrease bar to accept, conserving the franchise caught on a treadmill of mediocrity.
What makes this commerce significantly onerous for Bulls followers to take is reporting from Will Gottlieb of CHGO, who wrote earlier this week that the crew had “acquired affords from a number of groups, consisting of a number of protected first-round picks forward of the 2024 Commerce Deadline”.
So, why didn’t they take that? Effectively, a supply advised Gottlieb that such a transfer would imply instantly looking for a alternative for Caruso, which might have been the logical subsequent step if the Bulls have been rebuilding.
Nevertheless, Gottlieb reported the supply stated there was a “mandate” from Bulls CEO Michael Reinsdorf to battle for the playoffs.
Once more, one other instance of the disconnect within the Bulls entrance workplace when it got here to what they wished this crew to be and what it really is.
Bulls govt vice chairman of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas appeared to sign after the crew’s play-in match exit final season that actuality had dawned on the franchise.
“We aren’t right here for the play-in,” he stated.
“It’s a crew sport and we’ve got to make adjustments to make things better.”
“Evaluation will begin proper now and go into free company,” he added when requested if a rebuild was a chance.
“I feel we’re going to be fairly aggressive, the way in which we confirmed earlier than going into the draft and free company. We clearly can’t roll (out) the identical crew once more and anticipate totally different outcomes.”
The Giddey transfer could be the beginning, however you continue to must query how the Bulls weren’t in a position to get extra for a participant of Caruso’s calibre, particularly when you think about the multitude of picks Oklahoma Metropolis has at its disposal.
ESPN’s entrance workplace insider Bobby Marks, for instance, revealed that when the commerce went down he acquired texts from two totally different normal managers.
Each requested the identical query: what draft picks have been concerned? That claims all of it.
Maybe that claims as a lot about Chicago’s confidence in Giddey’s potential as a main ballhandler because it does the ability of Thunder GM Sam Presti to get a deal executed.
As a result of for a man who continues to impress along with his shrewd decision-making, that is one other dwelling run swing for Presti and the Thunder.
Caruso is the form of high-level 3-and-D participant that any contending crew could be determined to have and for the Thunder specifically it’s a seamless match.
The 30-year-old is coming off a season the place he had a career-high 120 steals and 70 blocks whereas taking pictures 40.8 per cent from downtown.
Capturing and defence, alternatively, have been Giddey’s two greatest weaknesses and have been uncovered down the stretch within the playoffs.
Add within the issue Caruso will earn simply $9.9 million subsequent season and the management he’ll deliver to this younger however rising Thunder roster and this may very well be the transfer to assist Oklahoma Metropolis take the subsequent step in the direction of title competition after developing brief within the Western Convention semi-finals this yr.
WHAT COMES NEXT FOR GIDDEY AND THE BULLS?
Effectively, the transfer away from a 30-year-old win-now piece in Caruso to extra of a developmental participant in Giddey suggests there may very well be a lot extra roster motion this offseason in Chicago.
That’s very true when you think about the very fact the one manner Giddey will get his palms on the ball extra is that if the Bulls transfer on from both Zach LaVine or DeMar DeRozan, or doubtlessly each.
LaVine appears to be like the most probably candidate to be traded, with NBC Sports activities Chicago’s Ok.C. Johnson reporting earlier than the Giddey information that Karnisovas has “floated as many as 15 proposals” round LaVine.
It isn’t shocking to listen to that type of desperation coming from Chicago with the NBA Draft fast-approaching, the place the Bulls needs to be concentrating on younger gamers to bolster their frontcourt in addition to measurement and flexibility on the wing.
Whereas the expectation was that Chicago would have been in a position to get at the least some draft compensation in a deal for Caruso, transferring on from LaVine at the least opens up one other alternative to do this earlier than subsequent Thursday’s first spherical.
It will likely be onerous to get a lot in return although given it’s hardly a secret that the Bulls need to get out of LaVine’s contract, with the 29-year-old nonetheless owed $138 million ($A207m) over the subsequent three years.
DeRozan, in the meantime, is off-contract this summer season and the Bulls reportedly supplied a two-year, $40 million extension to his administration in April.
Each events appear to be curious about operating it again however it could find yourself being a matter of how a lot the Bulls are prepared to supply.
Evan Sidery of Forbes Sports activities, in the meantime, reported Chicago “seem prepared” to half with Nikola Vucevic “for the appropriate worth”.
And naturally, outdoors of LaVine, DeRozan and Vucevic, then there may be the matter of Lonzo Ball’s close to two-year-long restoration from a knee harm.
The transfer for Giddey signifies the Bulls are pessimistic, or at the least protecting their bases, given the unsure nature of Ball’s timeline, with Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic reporting the crew expects him to return in some unspecified time in the future through the 2025 season.
“Workforce officers are assured Ball will play subsequent season. They’re simply not as assured about when,” Mayberry wrote, including on Friday {that a} commerce or buyout “may very well be possible”.
Giddey can completely co-exist alongside breakout guard Coby White, who emerged as a key piece of Chicago’s future final season and is a stable off-ball shooter.
It provides the Bulls a younger backcourt duo to construct round, ought to they discover a commerce companion for LaVine, whereas Ayo Dosunmu additionally flashed his potential final yr in an even bigger function.
The principle focus, outdoors of bettering the frontcourt, needs to be on making an attempt to place taking pictures round Giddey given White and Dosunmu have been the one two gamers at present on the roster to make at the least 100 3-pointers final season.
The crew, as an entire, ranked twenty fifth and twenty sixth within the league for 3-pointer tried and made respectively.
The opposite query is what occurs with Giddey’s contract given the Australian remains to be eligible to barter a rookie-scale extension.
If he can’t come to an settlement with the Bulls by the day earlier than the beginning of standard season, when rookie-scale extensions should be signed by, he will likely be a restricted free agent in the summertime of 2025.
HOW WILL GIDDEY BE REMEMBERED IN OKLAHOMA CITY?
Clearly that playoff sequence towards the Mavericks isn’t the way in which Giddey would have appreciated to have ended his Oklahoma Metropolis profession, however you need to keep in mind two issues.
First, these 76 minutes have been solely a small fraction of what was in any other case a memorable first few years within the NBA for Giddey, who turned the youngest participant in NBA historical past to document a triple-double and continued to interrupt data in a rookie season that exceeded all expectations.
Second, it’s straightforward to overlook Giddey remains to be solely 21 years previous, turning 22 initially of subsequent season in October.
In different phrases, whereas he could at present have limitations on the defensive finish and as a shooter, he nonetheless has loads of time to develop his sport in that capability.
“He’s 21, so 21-year-olds typically have up-and-down years,” Thunder GM Presti stated of Giddey at his exit interview.
“… However at 21 years previous, he’s cussed. Once I say cussed, I imply that in an endearing manner. He’s assured. In the way in which that I feel lots of people wish to see him capitulate and provides in, he’s not doing that.”
And as a lot as commentary on Giddey in his last season at OKC targeted on his shortcomings, there’s a purpose the Thunder drafted him with the sixth total decide in a transfer that many individuals in NBA circles believed was a attain on the time.
Clearly that each one begins with the Australian’s distinctive courtroom imaginative and prescient and playmaking, which once more stays his best power however wasn’t as obligatory on this model of the Thunder.
What makes Giddey a very intriguing participant although is the very fact you get that form of playmaking from a man who’s 6-foot-8 and might rebound the ball the way in which he can.
His basketball IQ can be far past his years, as is his emotional maturity, which the 21-year-old proved in his exit interview final month when discussing his benching towards Dallas.
You solely have to check the way in which Giddey reacted to the adversity, talking about eager to be a “higher teammate”, with that of the extra skilled Gordon Hayward, who bemoaned not being “given a lot of a possibility” regardless of not likely proving he deserved that.
Or the very fact Giddey was prepared to assist help a Thunder fan in want, even when that very same fan was extremely essential of him on social media throughout his turbulent third season with the crew.
Whereas some individuals could take a look at Giddey’s limitations as one of many fundamental causes the Thunder fell in need of competing for a championship, it’s generally misplaced within the noise that he really improved as a 3-point shooter on the season as an entire.
Giddey had shot 26.3 per cent and 32.5 per cent from 3-point vary in his first two seasons with the crew and improved to a career-best 33.7 per cent.
In the meantime, Giddey was significantly efficient throughout the board in March with Gilgeous-Alexander injured, once more proving how good he might be when enjoying on the ball extra.
JOSH GIDDEY IN MARCH vs REST OF THE REGULAR SEASON
Factors: 16.3 vs 11.6
Rebounds: 7.0 vs 6.3
Assists: 5.5 vs 4.8
FG%: 57.2 vs 44.4
3P%: 41.4 vs 31.2
And only a week earlier than the beginning of the Western Convention semi-finals, Giddey was coming off a New Orleans sequence the place he averaged 12.5 factors and shot 50 per cent from deep.
A restricted pattern measurement positive, however simply one other reminder of what Giddey might be when enjoying a assured and aggressive type of basketball.
All of that is to say at simply 21 years previous and with the postseason expertise he had at Oklahoma Metropolis, there may be loads of room for Giddey to develop.
Like his early years with the Thunder, Giddey shapes as a key piece of a Chicago crew which may be quickly forging a brand new identification.
However for Giddey, this transfer isn’t about discovering his identification as a basketball participant. It has at all times been there.
Giddey is aware of who he’s as a participant. A recent begin will give him the chance to lean into that much more, as would be the case subsequent month in Paris.
As Giddey would say, “that’s thrilling”.