Tramel's ScissorTales: Why Josh Giddey's rookie season in NBA was historic for OKC Thunder
Josh Giddey’s rookie season was outstanding. The Thunder point guard, the sixth overall pick in the 2021 draft, displayed talent rarely seen from NBA rookies.
Our series of Thunder report cards concludes today with Giddey, the 6-foot-8 point guard from Australia.
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Passing: A
Giddey was billed as a court-aware, pinpoint passer. The scouts got that right. Giddey was superb, both in transition and in halfcourt, as a ball distributor. He’s fundamentally sound but also adept at the wow-pass. Giddey averaged 6.4 assists per game, 11th in NBA history among rookies, and tied for eighth all-time among rookies in assists per 36 minutes (7.3). Giddey was in a tie with Magic Johnson, and others on those lists were the likes of Chris Paul and Oscar Robertson. Giddey’s assist rate of 32.3 (percentage of teammates’ baskets in which a player assisted, while on the court) was 12th-best in the NBA, and the list is dotted with ball-dominant, high-volume shooters like Trae Young, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, John Ploth and James Harden. The Thunder and the Bucks were the only two teams with two players each in the top 18 of assist rate (Giddey and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for OKC; Jrue Holliday and Giannis Antetokounmpo for Milwaukee).
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Playing with SGA: C
Barring a trade, the Thunder’s future partly rests on the ability of Giddey and Gilgeous-Alexander to co-exist on the court. Both are tall point guards who are best with the ball in their hands. The learning curve was rough; the early returns weren’t great. Using net rating (point differential), Giddey ranked 12th among SGA teammates in two-man lineups (-10.5 points per 100 possessions). SGA ranked seventh among Giddey teammates in two-man lineups. But the demeanor and attitude of each makes more cohesion likely.
Rebounding: A
Giddey’s rebounding prowess was undersold. He might have been OKC’s best rebounder. Giddey averaged 7.8 per game and 8.9 per 36 minutes. He led OKC in rebounds per game. Giddey’s 12.7 rebounding rate (percentage of available rebounds he grabbed while on the court) was 39th-best in the NBA and second-best among guards, trailing only Doncic.
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Shooting: D
Giddey’s 3-point percentage was a hideous .263. But a couple of things make that perhaps bearable. 1) Most rookies struggle from deep. Evan Mobley and Jalen Suggs, both picked before Giddey at No. 6, had worse 3-point percentages. 2) Giddey’s percentage on non-paint 2-pointers was .396, which isn’t great but isn’t awful. Still, Giddey’s free-throw percentage was .709. That’s not good.
Ball security: D
Giddey was a turnover machine. Again, that can be a rookie trait, but his turnover rate of 19.5 (turnovers divided by possessions used) was fourth-highest in the NBA among players with at least 1,000 minutes. Giddy committed 108 of his 171 turnovers off of passes; he was not shy about trying high-risk passes. But that mark needs to decline.
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Does Stotts want Laker job?
The Los Angeles Lakers have interviewed Mark Jackson and Terry Stotts for their vacant coaching position, perhaps already have interviewed Darvin Ham and Adrian Griffin, and could be holding out to talk to Doc Rivers and Quin Snyder.
Jackson and Stotts are former NBA head coaches, Ham and Griffin are hot assistant coaches, and Rivers and Snyder are sitting head coaches (76ers, Jazz, respectively) who might not be long for the jobs they have.
Stotts is my favorite, of course. He played basketball at OU in the late 1970s, had head-coaching gigs with the Hawks and Bucks, and was fired a year ago after a nine-year run in Portland in which he was 84 games above .500.
Stotts’ overall NBA head-coaching record is 517-486, and he’s not coached a game at a marquee franchise.
So Stotts clearly knows what he’s doing.
But I’m not sure I want him to get the Laker job. That sounds like a gig for an enemy, not a friend. Sounds like a job you want to hand to someone whose career you wouldn’t mind collapsing.
The Lakers are a disaster. The roster is a mess, with LeBron James getting old, Anthony Davis staying injured, Russell Westbrook the fall guy and scant young talent as a way out.
Organizationally, the Lakers are dysfunctional; they couldn’t even fire coach Frank Vogel properly. Vogel found out from media he was out of a job after this season. The roster makeup seems by LeBron’s design. Whoever coaches the Lakers will be seen as a puppet. Vogel coached the Lakers to the 2020 NBA title, and though he kept his dignity and his reputation, he didn’t keep much else.
So should I be pulling for Stotts to get this job? I thought Indiana was a natural, last off-season, since Stotts was an Indiana all-stater back in 1976. His Middle America sensibilities would seem to work well in Indianapolis.
But Rick Carlisle swooped in, leaving Dallas and claiming the Pacers. Can’t blame Carlise, I don’t suppose, and can’t blame the Pacers. Carlisle is an excellent coach.
But that left Stotts out of the NBA this season, and now he’s scavenging, even for the Lakers job. I wish him luck. But not necessarily luck at getting the Laker job.
The List: Best college football openers
College football season is less than four months away, close enough to start thinking about the juicy season openers that await the first weekend of September. Here are the 10 best:
1. Notre Dame at Ohio State: Marcus Freeman is going to get a complex, thinking all his games are against an OSU in a high-stakes matchup.
2. Georgia vs. Oregon in Atlanta: Why can’t any of these neutral-site showdowns be played in Seattle?
3. Cincinnati at Arkansas: A batch of Bearcats just went in the NFL Draft. We start finding out if Luke Fickell can keep the pipeline flowing.
4. Utah at Florida: The Urban Meyer Bowl. With a twist. Utah now might be a better job than Florida.
5. Louisiana State vs. Florida State in New Orleans: The Brian Kelly Era begins in the Bayou.
6. West Virginia at Pittsburgh: Hip-hip hooray! The Backyard Brawl is back. It stopped following the 2011 season, after being uninterrupted since World War II.
7. Penn State at Purdue: The Boilermakers were 6-3 in the Big Ten last season; the Nittany Lions were 4-5. And Penn State is 11-11 overall the last two years.
8. Boise State at Oregon State: The Beavers are getting better. Can the Broncos rebound from a 7-5 season?
9. Texas Christian at Colorado: A Big 12 newcomer against a Big 12 expatriate.
10. Clemson at Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets are a mess, but this is Clemson’s first game in forever without Brent Venables as defensive coordinator.
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Mailbag: Matt Holliday’s Hall of Fame chances
Faithful reader Del wrote last week, asking about Robin Ventura’s Baseball Hall of Fame chances. He appreciated my response and had another question.
Del: “I believe Matt Holliday becomes Hall of Fame eligible next year. In your opinion, does he get in, and if so, on the first ballot?”
Tramel: I don’t think Holliday gets in. Career hits: 2,096. Career batting average: .299. Career home runs: 316.
Using the same criteria I used on Ventura – baseball-reference.com’s similarity scores – Holliday is a no-go. Here are the outfielders with the most similar careers to Holliday’s: Moises Alou, Magglio Ordonez, Shawn Green, Ellis Burks, Bob Johnson, Reggie Smith and Paul O'Neill.
That’s the kind of company that would instill pride in any ballplayer. A bunch of good players. Pryor-born Johnson is a particularly close likeness. Johnson played from 1933-45 and hit 288 home runs, had 2,051 hits and batted .296.
But none of those players on that list are in the Hall of Fame.
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Rich Strike came down the stretch
The primary story of Rich Strike’s stunning Kentucky Derby victory was the 80-to-1, barely-made the field element.
Oklahoman Rick Dawson, of Edmond, owns Rich Strike, which he purchased for $30,000 in a claiming race. Rich Strike wasn’t even in the Derby field until Friday morning, when Ethereal Road was scratched.
But the rags-to-riches story overshadowed the best part of the spectacle: the incredible ride by jockey Sonny Leon.
Rich Strike was way back in the pack, even on the final turn. Derby announcer Larry Collmus’ call was incredible – but he called Rich Strike’s name only once, about three seconds before Rich Strike crossed the finish line as the winner.
Epicenter and Zandon staged a duel down the stretch, which riveted race fans and Collmus. Then here came Rich Strike with a finish for the ages, and Collmus had only a moment to even get Rich Strike’s name uttered.
The overhead camera angle of Leon’s ride is remarkable. Rich Strike came from 17th at the far turn, and the way Leon maneuvers the horse through traffic, then turns on the jets, is stunning. Rich Strike suddenly looked like a sports car zipping around traffic on the Broadway Extension.
Here is a transcript of Collums’ final 54 seconds of the down-the-stretch:
“Zozos is next after three quarters, in one minute, 10 and four-fifths seconds. And now Epicenter comes splitting horses and moves up quickly, as Crown Pride takes the lead around the far turn. It is Crown Pride battling with Messier, they’re stride for stride, Epicenter and Zozos behind them. Cyberknife speeds up on the outside, Zandon gets the rail run, and they’re into the stretch. And it’s Messier, Crown Pride and Epicenter is coming up on the outside. Epicenter has taken the lead as they arrive in the final furlong. Zandon is coming after him. Epicenter and Zandon, these two, stride for stride. Simplification down the outside is next. They’re coming down to the wire, Epicenter, Zandon. Rich Strike is coming up on the inside. Oh my goodness! The longest shot has won the Kentucky Derby.”
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This is an incredible example of how the spoken word can’t keep up with the brain. Collums is calling the race, and Rich Strike’s rally happens too fast for Collums to process, or at least to call.
Here’s the transcript again, only with my interruptions to update on Rich Strike’s standing in the race.
“Zozos is next after three quarters, in one minute, 10 and four-fifths seconds. (Rich Strike is 17th.) And now Epicenter comes splitting horses and moves up quickly (Rich Strike is up to 15th), as Crown Pride takes the lead around the far turn. It is Crown Pride battling with Messier, they’re stride for stride, Epicenter and Zozos behind them. Cyberknife speeds up on the outside (Rich Strike still is in 14th place), Zandon gets the rail run, and they’re into the stretch. And it’s Messier, Crown Pride and Epicenter is coming up on the outside. (Rich Strike has moved up to 10th.) Epicenter has taken the lead as they arrive in the final furlong. (Rich Strike is motoring; he’s up to sixth.) Zandon is coming after him. Epicenter and Zandon (Rich Strike splits two horses and suddenly is in third, but about four lengths shy of the lead), these two, stride for stride. Simplification down the outside is next (Rich Strike has passed Simplification, but Collums’ brain and voice can’t communicate fast enough). They’re coming down to the wire, Epicenter, Zandon. (Rich Strike has nosed ahead of Zandon and is closing in on Epicenter.) Rich Strike is coming up on the inside. (Rich Strike has caught Epicenter). Oh my goodness! (Rich Strike crosses the finish line first).) The longest shot has won the Kentucky Derby.”
It’s as if the Giants caught the Dodgers back in 1951, only the New York papers never even knew Brooklyn was in danger of being caught. As if the Bills caught the Oilers in the 1992 NFL playoffs, only you never saw that 35-point lead being chipped away.
Rich Strike’s story is incredible. His race was even better.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Why Josh Giddey's NBA rookie season was historic for OKC Thunder
