Josh Giddey felt like the odd man out during the Thunder’s playoff run. While he had some quality games in the sweep of the Pelicans — including 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting and eight rebounds in Game 3 — he ended up a bad matchup against Dallas. Giddey was targeted on defense, and on the other end of the court he didn’t space the floor as well as a shooter, allowing the Mavericks to double off him (or just sag off into the paint and clog things up). For the final two games of the Dallas series, Isaiah Joe started and Giddey came off the bench.
Thunder GM Sam Presti said that the Thunder reached the conclusion — the same one many Thunder observers did — that Giddey needed to come off the bench for this team next season. However, Giddey didn’t want that, especially heading into a contract year, and requested a trade, Presti said in announcing that Giddey got what he wanted and was traded to Chicago for Alex Caruso.
“When we drafted Josh in 2021 he was an essential aspect of our vision for the next iteration of the Thunder. Since then, our team has evolved rapidly and dynamically in ways we could never have anticipated,” Presti wrote. “Therefore, as we began our internal discussions this off-season, it was determined that bringing Josh off the bench next season was our best option to maximize his many talents and deploy our team more efficiently over 48 minutes.
“As we laid out to Josh how he could lean into his strengths and ultimately optimize our current roster and talent, it was hard to for him to envision, and conversations turned to him inquiring about potential opportunities elsewhere. As always was the case, Josh demonstrated the utmost professionalism throughout the discussions. Josh has All-Star potential, but accessing that in the current construct of the Thunder would not be optimal for the collective. Based on these discussions we decided to move forward and prioritize what was best for the organization.”
Giddey will get more chances to have the ball in his hands and prove his worth with Chicago. Giddey and Coby White — who finished second in Most Improved Player voting last season — will split time as the primary playmakers, with Lonzo Ball potentially figuring in that mix if he is healthy enough to play.
Where the Bulls struggled in this trade was not the idea of Giddey as a playmaker, but rather not getting a first-round pick — even a back-of-the-round one — as part of the trade. Chicago reportedly could have gotten multiple firsts for Caruso at the trade deadline, but now they have settled for a straight-up player swap. Also, by getting Giddey now, the Bulls almost have to extend him this offseason or next (when he will be a restricted free agent), otherwise they will have traded the coveted Caruso for nothing.
This trade is a big win for the Thunder, who get another elite defender for their starting five, but one who works well off the ball and shot better than 40% from 3 last season.
“He is the quintessential Thunder player; he is an exceptional competitor and teammate with a multi-dimensional skillset,” Presti said of Caruso. “His presence and game will help elevate the core of our team.”
Oklahoma City just got better, which should worry the rest of the West. The Thunder will reach an extension with Caruso when the sides can officially talk deal in six months.
