The 2022-23 Oklahoma City Thunder’s season ended with the play-in tournament loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, which means it’s time for reflection.
Being one of the biggest overachievers in the league, the Thunder finished with a 40-42 record after being predicted by many to have high lottery odds.
Now that the season is in the books, let’s go back and evaluate all 19 players who suited up for the Thunder this past season. Grades will be handed out to every player in terms of what their expectations were heading into the season and how they lived up to them.
The second player in this installment is Josh Giddey, who saw quiet and steady improvement as he played a vital role in the Thunder’s success.
(Editor’s note: We are starting individual grades for all players from the 2022-23 Oklahoma City Thunder. To access other reviews as part of this ongoing series, click here.)
2022-23 statisics:
- 16.6 points
- 7.9 rebounds
- 6.2 assists
- 48.2% shooting
- 32.5% 3-point shooting
- 73.1% free-throw shooting
Advanced stats:
- True-shooting percentage: 53.3%
- Usage rate: 24.6%
- Win shares: 4
- VORP: 1.9
- Assist percentage: 29.9%
Significant Percentile Finishes:
- Isolation scorer: 31.9 percentile
- Transition scorer: 32.2 percentile
- P&R ball-handler: 38.8 percentile
Contract:
- 2023-24: $6.6 million
- 2024-25: $8.4 million
Thoughts:
Entering the season, the biggest question mark surrounding the Thunder revolved around if Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey could co-exist.
Exiting the season, the answer is an astounding yes.
In his sophomore season, Giddey shared a starting backcourt with Gilgeous-Alexander as they led the young Thunder to blossom into one of the biggest overachievers in the league.
While it didn’t catch the headlines like SGA’s ascension to superstardom or Jalen Williams playing his way into the Rookie of the Year conversation, Giddey improved across the board.
The 19-year-old increased his points and rebounds, stayed steady on his assists and vastly improved his efficiency from the field. After shooting 41.9% last season, Giddey jumped to 48.2% this season.
The addition of shooting coach guru Chip Engelland paid immediate dividends as Giddey’s 3-point shot improved — last season, he shot 26.3% on 3.9 attempts; this season, those numbers were 32.5% on 3.1 attempts.
While it’s not a dramatic improvement, it’s steady progress that can be quantified as sustainable for the foreseeable future. Giddey mentioned Engelland helped polished his mechanics by changing his finger placement on the ball, it’s clear the makeover worked.
Honestly, I’m more concerned about Giddey’s rim finishing. In two seasons, he’s been an awful shooter around the rim — this past season, he was in the 32nd percentile among forwards for rim finishing at 62.4% shooting, per Cleaning The Glass.
Giddey mentioned this being one of the biggest areas of his game that need improvement and to be fair, he did show signs throughout the season of utilizing his strength to push his way to the basket for easy layups.
This could also help Giddey get to the free-throw line more frequently — despite being second on the team in drives per game (12.4), he averaged a measly 1.9 free-throw attempts a game. Among 37 players who averaged 12-plus drives, Giddey was 36th in free-throw attempts off of them at 0.7.
That just simply isn’t acceptable. Being a physical driver by adding muscle will help him gain more calls as his reputation grows.
That will need to improve as being that poor of a finisher inside of the paint can be a real detriment to Giddey’s future with the Thunder.
But that’s more of a long-term diagnostic for Giddey, let’s focus back on this past season.
Overall, considering expectations heading into the season, it’s easy to argue this season was a success for Giddey. The 19-year-old has shown his floor is likely a high-end starting guard and his ceiling is immeasurable due to his young age.
Moving Forward:
When asked about Giddey in his end-of-season presser, Thunder GM Sam Presti said his competitive nature stood out to him despite his young age. With that being the backbone of his game, it’s hard not to be excited as to what the future might hold for Giddey.
After two seasons, it’s evident that the Thunder fully maximized their No. 6 pick from the 2021 draft class by selecting someone who will likely be starting backcourt mates with Gilgeous-Alexander.
While it can be a funky fit at times with Giddey’s off-ball value, this season clearly showed that the young duo can be pillars of OKC’s future.
With both on the floor, the Thunder had a -1.5 net rating (per PBP stats) — in a vacuum, this is bad, but considering that last season’s number was at a -10.8 net rating, it’s a major improvement that should get better as the duo gets familiar with each other.
There’s no doubt that Giddey can play winning basketball — heck, that happened this season! But considering his makeup of being an elite playmaker with great size (6-foot-8) that helps him be one of the best rebounding guards in the league, he’s a little bit of an unorthodox player who is a hard puzzle piece to fit at times.
The questionable shooting doesn’t make that fit any easier and it will be something Giddey will have to consistently work on for his entire career. Even so, just because he’s unorthodox, doesn’t mean he can’t continue to develop into one of the best playmaking guards in the league.
As has been the case since being drafted, if Giddey continues to steadily improve his 3-point shooting to the point that it’s slightly below league average, then that will unlock his game and raise OKC’s ceiling.
