My first impression of Australian point guard Josh Giddey was negative. I saw him as a weak scorer, a non-defender and an inconsistent shooter. I couldn’t wrap my head on how draft guru Sam Presti seemingly missed so close to the top of the draft.
Toward the midpoint of the season, I finally saw what made Giddey such a highly-rated draft prospect — an unreal passing gene. Giddey’s absurd passing and playmaking potential at 6-foot-8 has caused me to completely re-evaluate his potential as an NBA star.
Can Josh Giddey Potentially Be A Standout Traditional Point Guard?
Due to the Steph Curry-led three-point boom, it’s been forgotten in the modern NBA that a point guard can be a facilitator and not a scorer.
Giddey is part of a new wave of young point guards who can buck this trend and showcase that the traditional point guard can still have a starring role in the modern NBA. To project Giddey into the role reveals a mixed bag of strengths and weaknesses he’ll have to work on to master this rare position.
Strengths: Giddey is a natural pass-first player. Some passes make it seem like Giddey has eyes behind his back. At 6-foot-8, Giddey creates plenty of matchup problems, is a strong rebounder for his thin frame, is a willing shooter and has much room for physical development.
Weaknesses: Even though willing to take shots, Giddey right now is a very inefficient shooter, too turnover-prone at this stage to truly be a lead playmaker (chalk this one down to age; only 19), a weak defender at this point, thrives in an up-tempo game but needs to master how to control the tempo of games at all speeds fast or slow.
Oklahoma City has a treasure chest of picks to surround Giddey with plenty of scorers for him to focus in on being a traditional point guard. Giddey may never become a strong scorer but his 6-foot-8 frame, tenacity attacking the board and natural physical development could see Giddey become a respected defender.
The leadership component is up in the air and at 19 it’s just too early to tell whether Giddey ever becomes a true floor general. Sam Presti is building a stacked team and through Giddey he may potentially have the facilitator to feed all the future stars Presti might draft.
Right now Giddey is just a fun young player on a bad team but the role of a traditional point guard is right there for him to grow into on a team with plenty of patience and structure.
