The NBA trade deadline has passed and while no Australians are on the move, there were some key calls made by their respective teams that could have a flow-on effect.
Add in the emergence of Chet Holmgren in his rookie season and Giddey has quickly found himself relegated to the fourth option, if that, and it is not a role his game is built for. Now, the expectation isn’t that Giddey will be putting up 24 points or even double figures on a consistent basis.He just needs to improve his outside shooting to a respectable rate while his rebounding in particular is another area Giddey could really be of value to a Thunder team that has often been dominated on the glass this season.
All of this is not to say Giddey is suddenly a bad player. He is still a very talented playmaker who is just being asked to do the one thing he has never been that good at.Put him in a team of shooters that needs one primary facilitator to pass the ball around and Giddey would start looking like the record-breaking rookie that put the NBA on notice.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault did not seem too worried post-game though, telling reporters the team had also tried a number of different tactics to combat the strategy which has been employed by a number of teams to neutralise OKC’s halfcourt offence.“We want to have a diversity of attacks against it, which includes the cutting and includes using him as a screener depending on who the five is. We thought that was effective today.
Simmons was more aggressive as a scorer against San Antonio, setting the tone early even if it led to a turnover as he attacked the rim on a play with 8:30 left in the opening quarter. You only have to look at Simmons’ scoreless game against the Sixers, where he did not attempt a single shot and yet was impactful on both ends of the floor in a 136-121 victory.
While Daniels’ offensive game remains a work in progress the Pelicans will miss his elite defence, which was continuing to see him earn consistent minutes as part of their rotation. An anticipatory Daniels then pounced on a pass from Westbrook as he attempted to keep the ball in, taking it to the rim for the dunk.