The Oklahoma City Thunder officially announced the Josh Giddey for Alex Caruso swap with the Chicago Bulls on Friday. It was a surprising deal that saw OKC switch out a three-year starter for one of the best 3-and-D players in the league.
After a career-worst season last year, it was evident Giddey’s time in OKC was near an end. He was eligible for an extension this offseason and a long-term commitment for someone who was played off the court at times seemed impractical.
Instead, the Thunder flipped Giddey for Caruso, who is a seamless fit with the starters. Thunder general manager Sam Presti released a statement on the trade and explained why they decided to part ways with Giddey, who refused to come off the bench for next season.
“We want to thank Josh for his many contributions to our team and know he will capitalize on the opportunities before him in Chicago.
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. 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.
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. Based on these discussions we decided to move forward and prioritize what was best for the organization.”
A clean divorce felt like the right move to make for both parties. It would’ve been unreasonable for the Thunder to sign Giddey to an extension with Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams being extension-eligible next season.
For Giddey, he’d rather go elsewhere and return to a more comfortable role as a primary ball-handler. He will get that opportunity in Chicago. It would’ve been unreasonable to expect a 21-year-old to label himself as a bench player already when he’s shown signs of being a capable starter.
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