The Oklahoma City Thunder are undergoing a big rebuild this season. They have a bunch of interesting young talent in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort, but the biggest talking point this season is Josh Giddey. The Australian rookie has been highly touted as a long-term project with huge potential, and we got a glimpse of just how good he can be.
Against the Dallas Mavericks, Josh Giddey had himself a night, earning his first career triple-double for the Thunder. He's now the youngest player in NBA history to get a triple-double, edging out Hornets star LaMelo Ball by around three months. (via Royce Young)
Josh Giddey has his first career triple-double, becoming the youngest player in NBA history to record one. Previously it was Lamelo Ball, with Giddey about three months younger than when Ball did it last season.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) January 3, 2022
Josh Giddey has been up-and-down for the Thunder in his rookie campaign so far. Drafted 6th overall in this year's draft, the Australian phenom is slowly but surely getting acclimated to the NBA game, but it's been a painful process. He's averaging 10.8 points per game on sub-par efficiency, which is expected from a 19-year old rookie.
However, games like this show just how good the Thunder rookie can be in the future if he plays his cards right. Giddey has a unique body type and play style, kind of like the prototypical forward in today's NBA. He can virtually do it all for the team, and his triple-double performance is a little peek into his potential.
Can we expect this type of performance from him now in all Thunder games? Obviously not, there's a lot of things he needs to work on to make this triple-double a constant for him. However, being the youngest player to get a triple-double has to be a huge confidence booster for Josh Giddey, and the sky's limit for him.
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