Grading the Oklahoma City Thunder season: The starting five
By Rylan Stiles
Josh Giddey is an elite playmaker that has a bright future for the Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder took a swing with the sixth overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft on Josh Giddey, an NBL star that features elite playmaking. This pick was not heavily praised at the time, especially with Jonathan Kuminga, who spent the entire cycle up until the last month before the draft as a top-five prospect, still on the board. That swing paid off in a big way.
Josh Giddey earned the NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month award every month of the 2021-22 NBA Season until he was sidelined after the All-Star Break with a hip injury. He logged four triple-doubles as a rookie including a streak of three straight which featured a stop in the historic Madison Square Garden.
Giddey was compared to NBA legends during his rookie season matching some statistical categories with Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, LeBron James, Wilt Chamberlin, Russell Westbrook, and countless others.
The 19=year-old guard put up 12-points, seven rebounds, and six assists per game while shooting 41-percent from the floor, 26-percent from three, and 71-percent from the line in 54-games. Despite not receiving a single rookie of the year award vote (as Jalen Green, Franz Wagner, and Herbert Jones did) this was a fantastic season from Giddey.
Related Story. Josh Giddey working on his jump shot this summer. light
He not only offered extreme playmaking but dominated in the mid-range shooting 44-percent overall, and 45-percent in the short mid-range thanks to his floater. That immaculate floater will eventually be improved when Sam Presti equips the team with a lob threat around the rim.
Like a lot of players on this Thunder roster, Giddey desperately needs to improve at the rim shooting just 57-percent at the cup. Though, there are a ton of reasons for hope. On top of just his natural body progression, Giddey might lack explosiveness but he has a great change of direction and pace to allow him to get to the rim he just has to learn to finish among the trees in the NBA.
The only other area of his game that needs improvement offensively is his three-point shot, which was a lowly 27-percent and only leaped to 32-percent in the corners. Giddey is spending the summer with OKC assistant coach Mike Wilks revamping his jump shot.
Grade: A, what else could he have done in his rookie year?