OKC Thunder: How Josh Giddey's Progression Might Look This Season
From year one to year two, Oklahoma City guard Josh Giddey certainly made a leap in the scoring department in both efficiency and production.
Typically competing more than 25 minutes a night in the month of November last season, there were some lackluster shooting nights of course, like on Nov. 1 where he accounted for just seven points on 33% shooting.
Those inefficient nights brought in some doubters. But as the season rolled along, and he had more of his poised performances under his belt — like when he dropped 24 points against the Knicks on 71% shooting in the middle of the month — he began to get in a groove and maintain better shot selection, alongside his known playmaking capabilities.
Averaging just over three 3-point attempts per game on the season, Giddey wasn’t aimlessly letting them fly, he had trimmed down his long range shooting to a point where he was able to manage a 6% increase to his shot percentage from beyond the arc. Additionally, he added 6% onto his shot percentage from the field overall, which was a huge success in terms of improving as an efficient scorer.
One thing of note, though, is Giddey’s pull-up 3-point presence. He tends to shy away from the typical dribble pull-up into a fluid shot from deep like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, cause it seems Giddey does not have the fluidity and balance to sink those consistently.
Last season, the 6-foot-8 guard shot 17.4% on just 23 pull-up 3-point attempts, sniping just four of them on the year. While this particular shot is not his forte, he still held the awareness to limit his shot selection and focus on the spots and preparations he was adept at.
This awareness will go lengths to help him this upcoming season, where he might not have the same scoring opportunities as he did the year before.
With offensive producers such as incoming rookies Vasilije Micic, Chet Holmgren, 3-point shooters Cason Wallace and Isaiah Joe, as well as Ousmane Dieng earning more play time, the opportunity to improve upon his 16.6 points per game from last season may not be the most conducive to team success.
While Giddey’s displayed his passing ability time and time again, his development in overall playmaking efficiency will be paramount to the Thunder this year. When examining players who committed the most turnovers last season, Giddey sits at 13th among some very high usage ball handlers in Trae Young, Luka Doncic and Ja Morant.
His progression as an efficient facilitator with a lack of turnovers, considering the integration of some talented offensive weapons for Oklahoma City, will be vital for the stability of the Thunder defense and capabilities of their half court offense.
On top of that, while his defensive rating from last season wasn’t of too much concern at 113.8, his ability to keep a ball handler in front of him or to get back into a certain play to defend the rim will be contingent on his development of lateral speed. He possesses great length, and seemingly has the knowledge of correct angles to shift his own weight and pick spots to cut off ball handlers, but the lack of quickness doesn’t do him well as a perimeter defender.
All in all, Giddey’s progression in this third year in the league more than likely won’t stem from a scoring facet, rather than coming from a fine tune to his entire offensive efficiency and progress as a dependable on-ball defender.
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