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It's tough to understand but sometimes a player gets a bad reputation and they can do no right by anyone. Tough to lose that image once created also.

e.g.

Simmons (deserved his criticism so far in hindsight. 40M and rarely plays...)
Kyrie (still great on court. Off court and availability is obviously frustrating)


Just talking on court. The off court is hard to comment on unless you know the people or facts closely and firsthand.






Now possibly Giddey.

I watch the games. Dort is as frustrating as Giddey but does not receive the same criticism this year.

Giddey had a bad game today in a blowout loss. He only played 22 minutes though. He was -21 but OKC lost by 35.

Watching the game, he missed some wide open shots but OKC lost due to turnovers, defence, and rebounds as a team to me.

Averaging 12-6-5 as a 22 year old in a new role (less minutes) on the team with the best record in the west (sometimes and possibly at the end of the year).



Is it his off court drama? The prejudice had started prior.


I agree he looks down and different this year. His drives head down then misses around the hoop are frustrating. However, he seems the scapegoat and it is an over reaction that some say he is not worth anything in a trade.

Unsure what his role should be. Obviously better as a ball handler.

* ps, no I am not a relative or friend of Giddey ha.

Giddey is terrible for spacing. Dallas completely ignored him. He's bad fit with Shai, who would benefit from open lanes and spacing. Giddey would work much better on a different team.

Giddey and Dort both need to be upgraded. Dort can occassionally make a defensive play and has hot streaks on offense. Giddey doesn't do that. Blame game percentages are a waste of time.

Giddey has to be moved to the bench.

Start Hayward.

Try to trade Giddey in summer or next deadline, dont extend him, unless for cheap, like 80/4.

Giddey has a place in the league, but his place is much more defined if he has at least a passable outside shot. If Giddey is left unguarded every team is doing two thing 1) forcing a minus shooter to shoot 2) cutting passing angles off from a pass-first player.

Those two in combination make Giddey look a lot worse than he is because strategically it nullifies his greatest asset and enhances his greatest offensive weakness. If he commands a defender within 5ft he's going to look a lot better.

I don't think he's completely useless on our team, but I'd move him to the bench for sure, use Hayward in his place.

+ This year the whole legal situation Giddey got into has affected his play. Teams' fans are just booing him and I have a feeling he's dealing with a host of other issues that we don't know about on the other side.