OKC Thunder: Josh Giddey throws his hat in ROY race

No. 4 – Josh Giddey, OKC Thunder

Listen to any of the hot takes occurring around the league about this incredible rookie class and OKC Thunder guard Josh Giddey is sure to be mentioned. The Ringer’s Bill Simmons was effusive in his praise calling Giddey his type of player.

We learned this past week the Golden State Warriors were keen to draft Giddey if he was still on the board at seven. Instead, they selected Jonathan Kuminga.

When Intentions was prepping for the draft there were reports the Raptors were also very keen on Giddey. Granted, the prospect Toronto selected fits Nick Nurse’s system like a glove and is the early season frontrunner to win Rookie of the Year. Toronto also selected 6’9″ Dalano Banton, another tall point guard with raw, untapped ability so the Raptors’ desire for Giddey was a real take.

The hottest take I’m hearing is the Rockets and Magic both should’ve considered selecting Giddey over Green and Suggs respectively. Again, hindsight is 20-20 but it’s understandable given how the league is switching to positionless basketball. Moreover, LaMelo Ball and yes even Ben Simmons has many teams shifting their thought process to seek taller point guards.

Through the first two weeks of play, Giddey is averaging 10.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 1.3 steals. The Thunder guard is filling up the stat sheet but not necessarily seeking his own shot or for that matter shooting with great efficiency. While his field goal efficiency is fine (45%) his 3-point shot vacillates between okay and off (33.3%).

If there is a concern it’s that he’s shooting 55.6 percent from the charity stripe. That isn’t an acceptable mark for a point guard who often is the player with the ball in their hands at the game end and getting intentionally fouled.

It’s not enough to lose our minds over this early in his career and his form is fine. That said, the two areas of Giddey’s game he’ll need to continue to concentrate on are his shooting form and consistency plus his defensive chops.

The other area we’d like to see Giddey improve is how often he’s setting up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who isn’t getting enough love from his backcourt partner. To be fair, opponents are double-teaming Shai so it’s not like Josh can force-feed him assists. This issue is more on Mark Daigneault to create more screens and movement in order to free up SGA and develop offensive sets for Giddey to feed him.