As tears started to fill his eyes, the weight of the 2023-24 season overwhelmed Josh Giddey in his exit interview. A nightmare season finally ended for the 21-year-old as he looks to flip the page.
It was an inconsistent season for Giddey, who finished the year on the bench in the Thunder’s final two losses against the Dallas Mavericks. The third-year guard’s weaknesses were exposed against Dallas in the playoffs.
Giddey’s struggles this season came to a boiling point as the Mavericks elected to ignore him. That was a common theme this season as he had his worst year yet of his career.
“It was up and down the whole time. It’s not a secret,” Giddey said. “… I took it on the chin and kept moving forward and tried to be the best teammate I could be from the role I was playing on the bench.”
Giddey said he agreed with the decision. After their Game 5 loss, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault explained they thought his playmaking better fit the second unit and Isaiah Joe’s spacing better fit the starters.
“That’s just what happened and that’s just how the series unfolded. I love Isaiah; that’s my guy,” Giddey said. “I was really happy for him to get that opportunity to start in playoff games.”
After finding out the decision to bench him, Giddey vowed to remain a positive teammate and not let the feeling of dread overwhelm him.
“As I said, the first — probably the first two games of the playoffs against Dallas, I didn’t play a lot, and I was not playing well, and I was probably in my own head. I wasn’t being a good teammate,” Giddey said. “I just felt bad. Like even after we won Game 1, I just was trying to be happy, but I was also so worried internally, like I couldn’t fully get around the guys the way I wanted to. It was a bad feeling.”
Giddey continued: “From that point on, I made a promise to myself that whether I play five minutes or 40 minutes, I’m going to be the best teammate I can be.
“I’m going to be up off the bench cheering for the guys and being supportive. That was kind of the mindset I took into the next three games. Love my teammates, so I just wanted to be there for them as much as I could. That was kind of my approach to those last three games.”
The Thunder will have a tough decision to make in the offseason with Giddey. He’s eligible for an extension. OKC usually likes to extend players it likes before they reach restricted free agency.
After an inconsistent season where the Thunder looked better without Giddey down the stretch in the playoffs, the fit between the two parties might not be there.
As a ball-handling playmaker who struggles to shoot, Giddey is an odd piece on the Thunder. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren are ahead of him on the depth chart.
This resulted in him trying to fit in an awkward role of being the fourth scoring option and trying to be more of an off-ball threat without the shooting to warrant respect from defenses.
It might be time for Giddey to get a fresh start elsewhere that can give him traditional point guard touches. But regardless of what happens, it’s evident he’s loved his time on the Thunder.
“I love it here. This is a home away from home. I love everything about this place, the city, the fans,” Giddey said. “The organization top to bottom is just unbelievable people throughout the building, and getting to come here to work every day is a lot of fun. It doesn’t feel like work.”
