The Oklahoma City Thunder's 2023-24 campaign came to a screeching halt on Saturday night when they lost a thrilling Game 6 contest by a score of 117-116. While guys like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren all showed up in this one, it was another quiet night for Josh Giddey in a season that has been full of them.
With the emergence of all the young talent on the Thunder's roster, Giddey took a bit of a smaller role this season, and ended up seeing his numbers fall across the board (12.3 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 4.8 APG, 47.5 FG%). Giddey was nearly unplayable against the Mavs in this series, and as a result, trade rumors quickly began to swirl around him as soon as the final buzzer sounded in Game 6.
“The Thunder don’t necessarily have to decide on Giddey’s future this summer, but the urgency is rising. Next season, he will make a reasonable $8.3 million in the final year of his rookie deal, but he’s extension eligible this summer, which is typically long-term decision time on players…If they go searching for a veteran upgrade, Giddey profiles as a trade candidate if the Thunder compiled a package built around a chunk of their valuable first-rounders. That includes the 12th overall pick in June’s draft, obtained from the Rockets.” – Anthony Slater, The Athletic
Should the Thunder move on from Josh Giddey this offseason?
After a strong 2022-23 campaign (16.6 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 6.2 APG, 48.2 FG%), Giddey seemed set to be a key piece of the Thunder's future. But with Gilgeous-Alexander emerging into a superstar and Williams and Holmgren both blossoming as the year went on, Giddey found himself boxed out of the lineup. And when he was on the floor, opposing teams often found ways to target him and expose his weaknesses.
Combine that with accusations suggesting that Giddey was having a relationship with an underage girl, and it was a pretty rough campaign for the young Thunder wing. Giddey won't be facing charges for those accusations, though, and he clearly has skills that teams across the NBA are looking for, so he would have a decent trade market if the Thunder decided to move on from him this offseason.
As noted above, this may be the perfect time for OKC to move on from Giddey, because if they don't they are either going to have to hand him a new deal, or risk losing him in free agency for nothing. Chances are the trio of Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams, and Holmgren are only going to continue improving, which means it will become even more difficult for Giddey to crack the lineup.
The Thunder are loaded with assets to pull off a trade centered around Giddey and some draft capital, and given how they came up short in this series against the Mavs, the front office will have an incentive to improve this team over the offseason. As a result, Giddey's time with the team could be coming to an end, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him involved in a trade over the coming weeks.
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