Josh Giddey and OKC’s first real mistake

[Roy T]

Man, I often wonder if most of the posters here are mentally disabled....

The hot takes are from outside the galaxy, that's how stupid they are to read.

[Frank Dux]

He's also a pedophile so I except he will get moved after this post season.

He's certainly not worth keeping with his controversy due to his lack of actual talent.

Can we stop with these gross jokes? There’s a big difference between a 19 year old hooking up with a 16 year and pedophilia which is attraction to children.

“Pedophilia (alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children”

If Giddey was actually a pedophile, sure go ahead and call him that. But stop with the weak and1 bait. It’s obnoxious and it got old fast.

[sol537]

Lack of playoff experience, the Giddey experiment, and a lack of front court depth will do OKC in against Dallas or Minny (in the next round)... That's OK... they should come back stronger next year...

[Lalouie]

He’s so so so bad. -27 in 28 minutes this series.

The Thunder and Presti have been incredibly impressive, getting the one seed and assembling one of the greatest warchests of picks ever. They undoubtedly have one of the best futures in the 2020s, almost every other franchise would want to be in their position. However…

Giddey is their biggest mistake in this new era. They held onto him for too long, and now he’s being exposed for what he is - a clear negative in a playoff setting. His lack of shooting murders their 5-out concept and his spacing allows Dallas to play Lively or Gafford in the paint without fear of being burnt. He also demands to be the primary ball handler and plays poor defense. I understand he had some good stretches vs New Orleans but this guy is not it. They can’t keep him here.

OKC got too cute at the deadline imo and failed to seize the opportunity. Washed Gordon Hayward was not moving any needle, any of my Hornets fans could’ve told you that. Giddey and picks could’ve gotten you Anunoby, for example.. they also easily had the picks to get Gafford or Washington who would’ve provided crucial help in areas of need.

Instead they kept Giddey, and if they lose this series, not shopping him aggressively enough will be their downfall.

uh,,,no. that's not their first mistake

THEIR FIRST MISTAKE will be if they don't fix it

[Bloodbather]

He's also a pedophile so I except he will get moved after this post season.

He's certainly not worth keeping with his controversy due to his lack of actual talent.

He's not a pedophile. Pedophile means attracted to pre-pubescents. He slept with a late adolescent that was only a few years younger than him. Age of consent isn't 18 everywhere, in fact it's more common for it to be 15-16. Enough with throwing this word around so liberally. Being falsely accused of child sexual abuse is one of the worst things that can happen to someone and it's happening everywhere.

[ogmagicfan]

Its laughable there's actual posters who believe Josh Giddey is some transformative player

In the modern NBA, if you cant shoot or defend, the justification for you being in the NBA is practically zero

If you struggle with dribbling/dribble penetration on top of that its even lower.

There's no universe where Josh Giddey should be starting on the Thunder, he is by all measure a bad basketball player on both sides

Even if he plays on another team, he shouldnt be starting, because he isnt close to starting quality. It's ridiculous this is even a conversation to be honest. Way too many box score readers not enough bball watchers

[ItsDanger]

4th option now, OKC is better off with a different type of player in starting lineup.

[ForeverTFC]

Hayward trade cleared close to a max slot this summer. Presti doesn’t make in season trades. I’d expect action this draft/offseason including Josh getting moved.

Definitely. I can't imagine Giddey is on the Thunder past the next trade deadline - and to your point, Prestie likes to do his business earlier rather later.

Also, I don't think this is as catastrophic as the OP is making it out to be. SGA/Chet/JDub will all be on a Max in 3 years. There isn't room for a 4th max at that point as SGA's fun max becomes a real max. Giddey has just made it pretty easy for Prestie to deal with the cap hell that would have come his way, and he probably has enough value to bring in something decent for them still.

[Tor_Raps]

Real question is if OKC traded Giddey and some picks for OG, would they have won a championship this year? Hard to say no considering how they've looked.

[jbk1234]

Giddey was a good corner 3 point shooter all regular season and he was on fire for the entire first round of the playoffs. I wouldn’t write him off because he had a cold game. He wasn’t even bad in game 1 he just didn’t get any looks.

Especially because Dallas is not doing anything new to defend Josh Giddey. They’re just leaving him open. When teams did that during the season he hit shots. When the Pelicans did that in round 1 he hit shots. 3 point shooting is something that operates on very high variance so I’m not surprised that he had a game where he didn’t hit shots, but I don’t think he just forgot how to shoot overnight.

The problem is you can be an off-ball player who stands in the corner and converts 3s, or you can be an on-ball player who is running the offense, but you can't be both. Are you trading for a secondary ball handler, 4th option who's a defensive liability, are you trading for your starting PG (who's still a defensive liability), or are you trading for your backup PG (where defense doesn't really matter)?

He's entering his final year of his rookie deal. If OKC decides to audition him, they should move him to bench where another team can talk themselves into him starting on their team. I suspect he doesn't have a lot of trade value now.

[Ayt]

People calling him bad are simply asinine. He is quite clearly doesn't fit, but clowns will proclaim a player, who already proved he has plenty of talent - bad. Few nights ago I have wrote about Petrovic and how a lot of NBA success is just about opportunity. But we have trash talkers not only write off players who maybe failed in the NBA, but also players who clearly didn't, but obviously put outside their element. Same experts I bet proclaimed Gobert trash last year, but now pretending they knew all along he was goat of some kind. Who are you even kidding...

Not even bother about calling a kid, who at 19, ALLEGEDLY slept with some 16 year old, a pedophile... Asinine thread. Maybe it was in fact a mistake on OKC part for not flipping him faster, as he simply doesnt fit as ball handler, but not because Giddey is very very bad...

He's not a good defender and he is a terribly inefficient scorer, who's also a poor shooter. I agree that doesn't mean he's a terrible talent, because like all kids that's largely a function of streakiness, and he could well still improve his finishing & shooting enough to make his passing useful...but it also makes it hard to say that he's actually been good in the NBA so far.

I mean people roast Barrett for being inefficient, but compared to Giggity, RJ is just clinical.

Bringing up Barrett is odd since Giddey's TS% this year was higher than any year RJ was on the Knicks. No one is roasting Barrett for being inefficient for the Raps since he was the opposite for them.

Real question is if OKC traded Giddey and some picks for OG, would they have won a championship this year? Hard to say no considering how they've looked.

What makes you think Masai would have done that?

[nate33]

Giddey isn't a bad player, but he is a bad fit on OKC. I think he could look a lot better on the right team - a team with scoring but lacking in ball handling - maybe Toronto or New Orleans?

The problem for OKC is that Giddey's value is declining given his ineffectiveness in his current role. If they end up trading him, they probably won't get the value they are hoping for.

[Tor_Raps]

People calling him bad are simply asinine. He is quite clearly doesn't fit, but clowns will proclaim a player, who already proved he has plenty of talent - bad. Few nights ago I have wrote about Petrovic and how a lot of NBA success is just about opportunity. But we have trash talkers not only write off players who maybe failed in the NBA, but also players who clearly didn't, but obviously put outside their element. Same experts I bet proclaimed Gobert trash last year, but now pretending they knew all along he was goat of some kind. Who are you even kidding...

Not even bother about calling a kid, who at 19, ALLEGEDLY slept with some 16 year old, a pedophile... Asinine thread. Maybe it was in fact a mistake on OKC part for not flipping him faster, as he simply doesnt fit as ball handler, but not because Giddey is very very bad...

He's not a good defender and he is a terribly inefficient scorer, who's also a poor shooter. I agree that doesn't mean he's a terrible talent, because like all kids that's largely a function of streakiness, and he could well still improve his finishing & shooting enough to make his passing useful...but it also makes it hard to say that he's actually been good in the NBA so far.

I mean people roast Barrett for being inefficient, but compared to Giggity, RJ is just clinical.

Bringing up Barrett is odd since Giddey's TS% this year was higher than any year RJ was on the Knicks. No one is roasting Barrett for being inefficient for the Raps since he was the opposite for them.

Real question is if OKC traded Giddey and some picks for OG, would they have won a championship this year? Hard to say no considering how they've looked.

What makes you think Masai would have done that?

If the Raptors got Giddey & Cason Wallace, I have no doubts we would have made that trade.

Heck, let's switch OG to the poo poo platter the Raptors got for Siakam. Siakam on that team instead if Giddey makes them drastically better.

[LaLover11]

Giddey isn't a bad player, but he is a bad fit on OKC. I think he could look a lot better on the right team - a team with scoring but lacking in ball handling - maybe Toronto or New Orleans?

The problem for OKC is that Giddey's value is declining given his ineffectiveness in his current role. If they end up trading him, they probably won't get the value they are hoping for.

He would be the 6th man in Laker Land

I'm sure he would love all the beautiful beaches and chicks there!

[BDM22]

They also had the Sengun pick and traded it in Presti's never-ending quest to obtain mooarrrr pickssss.

But Giddey's a decent player. Seems like OKC should have moved on by now though.

[ShootersShoot]

He isnt the best fit with them but he is literally a 21 yr old 6 games into his first playoffs.

[NCHeels2008]

He would be a great PG for PHX if they did a KD deal

[Swift21]

He's also a pedophile so I except he will get moved after this post season.

He's certainly not worth keeping with his controversy due to his lack of actual talent.

He's not a pedophile so stop with that bs.

He's a pedophile.

[DayofMourning]

JG might project better as a higher usage guy. OKC has built an abundance of riches. Some guys arent going to fit because of it.

[axeman23]

He's not a good defender and he is a terribly inefficient scorer, who's also a poor shooter. I agree that doesn't mean he's a terrible talent, because like all kids that's largely a function of streakiness, and he could well still improve his finishing & shooting enough to make his passing useful...but it also makes it hard to say that he's actually been good in the NBA so far.

I mean people roast Barrett for being inefficient, but compared to Giggity, RJ is just clinical.

Giddey has other qualities where he is clearly superior to Barrett, he is 6'8 PG and young. I agree that right now, with how NBA is played and what type of talent it has, Giddey is odd man out, because he is not a huge scoring threat, but he needs the ball. So he can be that type of player thats very good actually, just not a good NBA fit in general. But thats very pessimistic look at things, even this year, when fans were booing him (and calling him pedo for honestly bunch of nothingness) and his morale was very low, he still had amazing games when SGA was out and Giddey was given the ball. I think saying he hasnt been good in the NBA is unfair, he proved he can be very good before he could even drink in the States, 6'8 interesting finishing technique, he just needs to learn to shoot better, it would open his passing, he has plenty of time. Still very good with the ball and the type of player who has talent to average weakish triple double. I mean put young Jason Kidd and make him off ball, he would be awful too, and I am not saying Giddey is as good as Jason Kidd, but he is pretty much same archetype of player.

Giddey is a better rebounder and a playmaker, but he turns the ball over more and Barrett's playmaking is likely to look a lot more impressive as his gravity increases...given that Barrett has consistently flashed much better vision & passing-touch than his #s suggest, he just doesn't draw enough attention yet to really utilize it well and is still too focused on his own scoring.

I admittedly was not a fan of Giddey's coming out, felt like a poor man's Rubio in the worst ways...despite my having been a huge Rubio fan...but I don't think it's unfair to say he hasn't been good in the NBA yet. Again people say that about RJ even though RJ has had a 2-3 month stretch after the holidays when he was pretty awesome almost every year...last season was the only exception but he then had that strong playoff run.

So why should we judge Giddey by his stand out performances if we judge Barrett by his struggles?


I think calling him Josh Giggity is funny, but you're right that people go over-board with the pedo stuff. Though I just chalk that up to Americans' weird obsession with teenage sex...and America's issues with sex is a topic that we don't have enough time before the heat-death of the universe to discuss in adequate depth

EDIT:
Quality is just as important as archetype. Brunson is awesome but that same archetype in a less talented player and you've got someone who struggles to get off the bench for a good team. So just because Giddey may share an archetype with Rubio & Kidd, doesn't mean he should get the same role that Kidd had at this level.

Personally, I'm a fan of BOTH Barrett and Giddey. Have been since before they were drafted. Both could probably kick on better outside of their draft teams (Barrett has got out, Giddey not yet), but who knows? Not everyone in the league has to be a superstar to justify their existence to fans and talking heads...