The Oklahoma City Thunder shocked the NBA world by earning the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference last season. En route to a 57-25 record, their best since the 2013-14 season, the Thunder were led by MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Coach of the Year Mark Daigneault. Ultimately, the team lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the second round. However, it is clear the Thunder are destined for greatness. And after their offseason moves this summer, the Thunder likely have further solidified themselves as title contenders. Most notably, the team traded Josh Giddey to the Chicago Bulls for defensive ace Alex Caruso. While Caruso is an excellent acquisition for the Thunder, some within the organization were upset about moving on from Giddey. Most notably, Thunder big man Chet Holmgren recently spoke about being “hurt” after the trade.
In a recent interview on Paul George‘s podcast, Podcast P With Paul George (YouTube link), Holmgren reflected on the trade.
“Man, I was [expletive] hurt when I saw that Josh Giddey is not going to be on our team anymore. We all rock with him, that’s our dog, still is. He’s going to go do great things in Chicago, so we’re excited for him. We’re also excited to have [Alex Caruso] on our team now, too. Like you said, he’s a great defender, he makes shots, he always makes winning plays, makes the right plays, [and] that’s the type of dude you want to play with.”
Chet Holmgren “Hurt” After Shocking Offseason Trade
Why the Oklahoma City Thunder Traded Josh Giddey
Giddey spent the first three seasons of his career in Oklahoma City. What made the Australian native stand out on the court was his versatility and ability to play any guard or forward position. Additionally, at such a young age, Giddey was primed to be a part of the team’s long-term future. However, as time went on, Giddey’s role became smaller, and he eventually fell out of favor in the rotation.
Furthermore, his poor playoff performance last season did not help his cause. In 10 total games, Giddey averaged 8.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists over 18.1 minutes. Additionally, his defense looked poor, and he was moved to the bench halfway through the Thunder’s series against the Mavericks. Thunder GM Sam Presti later revealed that the team wanted him to come off the bench for next season as well. However, Giddey seemingly rejected the idea, making a trade a no-brainer for both sides.
“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.”
“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.”
