Thunder Guard Josh Giddey's Defensive Outlook

Breaking down Josh Giddey's defensive strengths and shortcomings, and why he may not be bad as you think.

When you think of Josh Giddey, you think of his offense and his extraordinary vision and passing wizardry. But as a 19-year-old rookie, the Australian sensation proved he could impact the defensive end of the floor as well.

And although he might not be a Marcus Smart or Draymond Green, Giddey was extremely solid for a young buck.

Last year, the former sixth overall pick leveraged his size, strength, and professional experience to make things difficult for his assignments. While he may not possess eye-popping explosiveness or incredible hops, Giddey is still a healthy 6-foot-8 and 210 pounds who knows how to move his feet and where to be.

Perhaps his advanced defensive awareness and willingness to play physically comes from his National Basketball League days. Prior to his first season with the Thunder, Giddey laced ‘em up for the Adelaide 36ers and battled grown, mature men on a night-to-night basis — a stark difference from playing younger athletes in the NCAA.

His experience overseas seemingly helped his adjustment to the NBA as it wasn’t the first time he was tasked with preventing bigger guys from taking advantage of him.

But not only does Giddey have the capability to bother bigger guys such as Julius Randle, but he is also quite decent when guarding smaller players due to the combination of height and feel. He does a great job “staying home” and not letting dribble combos or head and shoulder fakes move him off his line and also has a great instinct for when players are about to shoot. And because Giddey is so tall, players like CJ McCollum and Collin Sexton can have a tough time shooting over his contests.

Giddey, however, does give up the advantage of the dribble more frequently than you’d like. This usually happens against quicker or more skilled players such as Jayson Tatum, Luka Doncic, or James Harden. And while that’s not ideal, most NBA players struggle defending offensive superstars, especially rookies.

The big guard has shown a willingness to put in the effort, which is maybe the most important thing when evaluating defensive upside. 

When tasked with containing drives and pick-and-rolls, he impresses with his active feet. And even though he allows some players to get inside the paint, Giddey makes sure it isn’t easy. In fact, one of the most underrated aspects of his game is how he is able to use his body to slow down drives and even “funnel” them into the Thunder’s help defense.

At this stage in his career, Josh Giddey has a strong baseline on defense. While he’s not likely to earn All-Defense honors any time soon, he’s no pushover when guarding on-ball nor as a team defender.

He has a lot of room to grow, too. Added strength and improved athleticism would go a long way towards shoring up some of the weaker areas of his game. 

Heading into the 2022-23 season with two years of pro experience under his belt and another full offseason, Giddey should take another step forward.

If Giddey can prove to be the third or fourth best defender in the starting lineup moving forward, that would be considered a huge win.

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