Chicago - With or Without - Josh Giddey
With Giddey = 21 wins 33 losses (32 win pace)
Without Giddey = 10 wins 18 losses (29 win pace)
Little difference in terms of wins and losses with or without Josh Giddey. This despite Giddey averaging 17ppg 9.1apg 8.3rpg on 45% FG 36% 3PT 76% FT 56% TS with 3.6 turnovers per game.
The year before Giddey played 70 games. They had 33 wins and 37 losses with Giddey and 6 wins 6 losses in the 12 games without Giddey. Again no meaningful difference. Giddey averaged 14.6ppg 7.2apg 8.1rpg on 46.5% FG 37.8% 3PT 78% FT 57% TS with 2.9 turnovers per game.
So no real difference in Chicago's wins or losses depending on whether Giddey plays or not over his 2 seasons with the team. 124 games played vs 40 games missed. Decent sample size.
I don't have a good sense for Giddey. Just have not seen him play enough. 23 years old, with some apparent ceiling, on a reasonable contract for a rebuilding team. Is he just another Zach Levine? I don't see this making any sense for BOS unless you believe Giddey is about to explode and become and all-NBA level player next season. I would buy Giddey and the Pick to MIL and Giannis to BOS, but I am not sure if that is enough for MIL. Maybe add some BOS future picks to MIL.
I am looking at Caleb Wilson more than Giddey as the guy with more long term potential. From the trade idea above of Jaylen for Giddey + #4 pick.
Giddey's impact is lower than expected because he is (1) still a bad defender (2) not efficient enough as a scorer. So a good offensive player who loses value through his bad defense. And a good offensive player rather than a great offensive player because he lacks efficiency.
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In terms of potential, his defensive game is likely capped due to poor lateral quickness. He has good end to end quicknes but bad side to side quickness on D. Bad agility on D. So he is likely always going to be a dodgy defender. So I don't see potential there.
His offensive potential will come down to his (1) efficiency and (2) outside shooting. He is showing some progress in his 3pt shot but it is still funky looking. It goes in enough that you have to defend him but you are never scared of him going off. He just hits enough to keep the defense honest. And he only takes them when he is open. More of a set shot. Not much off of movement (running to an open spot). Also rarely off the dribble. A standstill spot up shooter. A reluctant shooter.
There is a chance for further growth but I believe large growth is unlikely. His jump-shot is too dodgy. His long and midrange 2s are dodgy as well. He rarely ever takes them. He likes to play 15 feet and in. Short jump shots, floaters / runners, rim shots. He only shoots his FTs at around 75%.
I see him more as a main man on bad teams or a 3rd / 4th option on a good team.
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There is a worry as well with Giddey as to how well he would do in a smaller offensive role. He is allowed to use his skills to the fullest on a bad Chicago team. On a contender where he would be used off the ball more (only 17ppg), he would likely see a drop in both scoring and assists (maybe 15ppg and 7apg). He is unlikely to see much of a spike in efficiency because he is a mediocre shooter. He is an on-ball player. His off ball game is still poor. So he is unlikely to get a boost next to better players.
So this idea of how does he scale on a winning team.
You probably wouldn't want to pair him with a ball dominant star like Luka Doncic. I don't think that would work well. Tatum is less ball dominant than most stars so that pairing would work better than most. Teams would still cheat off of Giddey and see if he can beat them with his 3pt shot rather than let the star (Tatum) do his thing.
Topic: 2026-27 Celtics Off Season Discussion (Read 4420 times)