Josh Giddey Coming Into his own Amid Injury Crisis

With his fellow starters sidelined with injuries, Josh Giddey is discovering a new level to his game.

As the final buzzer sounded, bringing to close the latest loss for the Oklahoma City Thunder, the scoreboard in Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center read a number the rookie guard had yet to see in his young career.

With four of the Thunder’s (17-35) top six scorers, including leading scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, out with an array of injuries the keys to the Thunder offense were handed over to the Thunder’s rookie phenom for the night. Josh Giddey responded by posting a career-high 24 points, marking just the second time he has made 10 shots in a game.

coastin' 🌊@joshgiddey | #ThunderUp pic.twitter.com/ibfZggSAgn

— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 6, 2022

This was the fourth game since Gilgeous-Alexander picked up an injury that will reportedly see him sidelined through the All-Star break later this month. In that stretch the Thunder are 3-1 with Giddey averaging 17.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists to go along with an impressive 49.2% from the field. Compare that scoring to the 11.8 points per game he is averaging for the season and it’s clear he has more to offer the Thunder when he’s needed.

At season’s end this time will likely be looked back upon as a blessing in disguise for the progression of Giddey’s game. His scoring ability, his aggressiveness in attack and his willingness to try new things on offense will have all grown from this stretch — something that wouldn’t have been a certainty with Gilgeous-Alexander in the rotation.

Gilgeous-Alexander is far and away the Thunder’s best player, and the gap is even larger on offense where he seemingly finds a new way to glide past defenders with each passing game. With someone Giddey refers to as “the best isolation scorer in the league” on the roster, it would be foolish to hand over the reins to the Thunder offense willingly. But with him sidelined at least through the All-Star break this has become the perfect maturation period for the Aussie.

Following Saturday’s loss Giddey talked about how he believes he doesn’t play differently with Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort sidelined — something that should be music to the ears of the Thunder front office. Giddey was able to play his game all the way to a career-high without having to make any major changes other than volume. Giddey’s basketball IQ and passing ability will be able to keep him playing for the next 10 years, but it is his scoring that will be the difference between being a starter and an All-Star.

For Thunder coach Mark Daigneault, it’s about keeping the mentality he’s currently playing with as his fellow starters begin returning from injury that will be important.

"He might not get 19 shots when we're at full tilt but that mindset is the mindset he needs to play with," Daigneault said.

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