3 things we learned during the OKC Thunder postseason run
By Rylan Stiles
During their postseason run, the Oklahoma City Thunder learned that Josh Giddey could be a capable scorer in this league.
The OKC Thunder used the sixth selection in the 2021 NBA Draft on Josh Giddey; after some bad lottery luck, Sam Presti made a surprise selection with the first pick of this rebuild. Since then, Giddey has been under a microscope.
Surprisingly, No amount of hair fluffing, fancy passes, and historic numbers could sell the entire fanbase. Even as recently as a month ago, there was an outcry within the fanbase of people wondering if Giddey could be in Oklahoma City for the long haul.
Most of those concerns center around his scoring ability, highlighted by his outside shooting. With some defensive concerns sprinkled in.
It felt throughout this season, anytime anything went somewhat wrong, Giddey was the scapegoat despite him showing flashes of playing like a star this season.
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Even a week into the offseason, as a collective fanbase, there still has not been proper reflection for how good Josh Giddey has been in year two and how much he improved.
Giddey went from 12 points per game to 16 points per game while staying at seven and six assists per game. In addition, the second-year player shot 48 percent from the floor (a seven percent improvement) and 32 percent from beyond the arc (a 6 percent increase). All with just half an offseason of work with Chip Engelland.
Josh Giddey also improved his shot at the rim, from the corner three-point line, above the break, and stayed steady in the mid-range at 43 percent (ranking him in the 66th percentile for his position according to cleaning the glass).
Against the New Orleans Pelicans in game one of the Thunder’s postseason run, the 20-year-old posted 31 points, ten assists, and nine rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the floor and 43 percent from beyond the arc (3-for-7).
Giddey attacked the paint hard, getting rewarded with seven free throw attempts, only missing one.
His ability to play his simple yet effective game, turn the corner off screens and attack downhill, and facilitate the offense in a road postseason game while only committing two turnovers are all encouraging signs for the future.