We got ourselves our first trade, ladies and gentlemen! The 2024 NBA offseason has “officially” started with our first trade. It's a pretty big trade, too: the Oklahoma City Thunder sent Josh Giddey to the Chicago Bulls for Alex Caruso. It's a massive trade that will have big ramifications for the upcoming season.
Some fans might be wondering why this trade even happened. After all, there was seemingly no indication that the Thunder would even be inclined to trade Josh Giddey, despite his struggles last season. In the press release, GM Sam Presti revealed the reason.
With Giddey struggling as part of the Thunder's starting lineup, the team envisioned a role for him as a bench player. As it turns out, though, Giddey was seemingly not amicable to this set-up. Discussions eventually led to the guard requesting to seek opportunities elsewhere.
“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. As always was the case, Josh demonstrated the utmost professionalism throughout the discussions. Josh has All-Star potential, but accessing that in the current construct of the Thunder would not be optimal for the collective.”
It does seem like the Thunder wanted to keep Giddey, but in a more limited role. Giddey's best role was as a playmaker, but OKC already has a star playmaker in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Aussie's dreadful shooting from the outside also makes him an inefficient partner to SGA in the starting lineup.
Thunder's outlook with Alex Caruso
In a lot of ways, Caruso is a complete upgrade over Giddey for the Thunder. On one hand, Caruso excels as a secondary ball-handler who can play off-the-ball most of the time. He has the same instincts as Giddey in cutting to the basket. The biggest difference, though, is that Caruso is an elite floor-spacer: he shot 40% from deep last season on around five attempts per game.
In addition, Caruso is leagues above Giddey as a defender. We're talking about an All-Defense guard that is one of the best point-of-attack defenders in the entire league. The Thunder's new backcourt of SGA and Caruso will be a nightmare for opposing guards. It's a pick-your-poison deal where every option leads to instant death. Presti himself said that Caruso was one of their biggest targets in the offseason.
“Alex Caruso is a player we have always highly valued and followed. He is the quintessential Thunder player; he is an exceptional competitor and teammate with a multi-dimensional skillset. His presence and game will help elevate the core of our team as we continue to strive to build a sustainably elite program in Oklahoma City”
The Thunder still have not addressed their biggest needs. The playoffs have shown that they need more depth at the big man position. Having a burly center to pair with Chet Holmgren would be nice, as they got absolutely killed on the board by the Dallas Mavericks. That does not diminish the impact of the Caruso trade, but you have to hope that more deals are on the way for them.
Last season, the Thunder were a surprise entrance to the playoff rumble. This time around, OKC will be walking into the regular season with a target on their back. They're not taking the 2024-25 season likely, as evidenced by their moves.
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