ESPN’s Zach Lowe released his All-Rookie teams on Thursday in his latest article. Oklahoma City Thunder guard Josh Giddey is a tough nut to crack in terms of whether he deserves to make it or not. If fully healthy, he would’ve easily made the first team as he won the Western Conference Rookie of the Month award every month he played.
In 54 games, Giddey averaged 12.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 6.4 assists. Giddey would miss the entirety of the post-All-Star break — sans one game — due to hip soreness. Thankfully for Giddey and Thunder fans, the rookie revealed during exit interviews that his hip injury isn’t a serious one and that he should be good to go at the start of next season.
With all that said, Lowe ended up placing Giddey on his All-Rookie second team as one of the guards, with the caveat of revealing that if Giddey played more, he would’ve voted him in as one of the two first-team guards instead of either Jalen Green or Herb Jones.
“The only drama on first team was the final spot, which came down to Jones and Green. Had Giddey played more games, that spot was his.”
Even with the disappointment of only playing just two-thirds of the season, Giddey had a phenomenal rookie campaign that should excite both the team and fanbase as it how good he can develop. Especially with a refined jump shot that he plans on working this summer, if Giddey can become a respectable shooter, then the sky’s the limit for the 19-year-old.
[mm-video type=video id=01g0mgg0h2zsfpac9rkr playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g0mgg0h2zsfpac9rkr/01g0mgg0h2zsfpac9rkr-bb4f839eecea9d9b1e4fa59da28e5ff5.jpg]
[listicle id=458269]