The Oklahoma City Thunder continues their rebuild season, with just eight games left, the team has dealt with a flurry of injuries to get to this point. Having already shut down Lu Dort, Mike Muscala, and Ty Jerome for the season there is no return in sight for Kenrich Williams or Derrick Favors, and max contract point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander remains questionable for every contest with a nagging ankle injury. The OKC Thunder have announced they will “have a conversation” with Gilgeous-Alexander about the next steps for this season. Mark Daigneault called listing him as day to day each day as “unsustainable.” Now, Josh Giddey has been ruled out for the remainder of the season.
Josh Giddey, who won the Western Conference Rookie of the Month Award from October-February, has not played since the 25th of February against the Suns. In what has been a record-setting rookie campaign for the 6th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, seeing Giddey become the youngest player to log a triple-double, posting four of them before the NBA All-Star Break.
Josh Giddey has been ruled out for the rest of the 2021-22 NBA season, marking an end to his historic rookie season
At 19 years old, Giddey will end his rookie season averaging 12 points, seven rebounds, six assists, per game. Giddey shot 41-percent from the floor, 26-percent from three, and 70-percent from the floor. While he is ruled out for the rest of the season, he has still made Oklahoma City Thunder General Manager Sam Presti look like a genius for selecting Giddey.
His elite playmaking, passing, and 44-percent from the mid-range make the 6’8 guard incredibly interesting moving forward. Giddey has already stated he needs to change his jump shot this offseason, giving Thunder fans more reason to get exciting about their young guard.
Josh Giddey has no history of hip injuries, according to Mark Daigneault, so the rehab process should go smoothly over the offseason. Oklahoma City has preseason games on October 5th in Tulsa, Oklahoma against the Dallas Mavericks as a rough estimate of when the NBA preseason will tip-off for the 2022-23 NBA season.