In a surprise trade that still has fans in awe, the Bulls have decided to trade out two-time NBA All-Defensive Team player Alex Caruso to the Thunder, in exchange for Josh Giddey. OKC now possess one of the league’s most desirable role players, as team general manager Sam Presti has been pursuing a player of his characteristics for quite some time now.
This doesn’t mean, however, that the Chicago club has lost with this transfer, as they gain a less experienced athlete, but younger and with the potential of leading the NBA franchise in the near future. According to sources, the Thunder had planned to bring Giddey off the bench next campaign, an idea the Australian found “hard for him to envision.”
“Conversations turned to him inquiring about potential opportunities elsewhere,” Presti explained. “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. Based on these discussions we decided to move forward and prioritize what was best for the organization.”
Bulls are trading Alex Caruso to the OKC Thunder for Josh Giddey, per @wojespn pic.twitter.com/AWsTxE19Hb
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 20, 2024
Giddey, who was the No. 6 pick of the 2021 NBA Draft, has developed into one of the NBA’s most versatile and creative young playmakers. “When we drafted Josh in 2021 he was an essential aspect of our vision for the next iteration of the Thunder. Since then, our team has evolved rapidly and dynamically in ways we could never have anticipated,” his former GM wrote in a statement.
“Therefore, as we began our internal discussions this off-season, it was determined that bringing Josh off the bench next season was our best option to maximize his many talents and deploy our team more efficiently over 48 minutes.”
The Australian is coming off a career-high 80 matches for Oklahoma City this past season, but throughout the campaign started to come off the bench, especially in the Western Conference playoffs. He eventually saw his scoring average drop from 16.6 points per match last year, to 12.3 as his role evolved with the squad.
“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,” Presti insisted.
Giddey already said his goodbyes to the Oklahoma City fanbase with an emotional message posted on his social media
Just as the news surfaced the internet, Josh Giddey confirmed he was leaving for Chicago with a sentimental message dedicated to the Thunder fans. There was no way around it, the team had already announced he had been traded out for veteran guard Alex Caruso.
“Okc… thank you for EVERYTHING. To the city for embracing me from Day 1. To Mr Bennett, Sam & Mark for giving me the opportunity to fulfill my dream of my being an NBA player, I am forever grateful. My brothers, who I got to share the floor with for 3 years. the best group of guys I could’ve imagined,” he started out on social media.
He then gave special praise to his teammates, who helped him through a tough time at the start of the past season. “Stuck with me through the very high highs & the very low lows,” the Australian assured. “You guys know the real me. I am forever in debt to Oklahoma and no words will do justice to how much the city & organization mean to me and my family.”
Sam Presti, on the other hand, went out of his way to make sure everyone knew that Giddey has the potential of becoming one of the biggest names in the NBA. “Josh has All-Star potential, but accessing that in the current construct of the Thunder would not be optimal for the collective. Based on these discussions we decided to move forward and prioritize what was best for the organization,” he shared.
