Thunder GM says Josh Giddey didn’t want to come off the bench, prompting trade
Copyright Source：
Yueke
Wed, Jun 26, 2024
PHOTO: Yueke
Thunder GM says Josh Giddey didn’t want to come off the bench, prompting trade
CHICAGO (AP) — The Bulls and Thunder finalized a deal sending Josh Giddey to Chicago and Alex Caruso to Oklahoma City on Friday, with the Thunder granting the 21-year-old Giddey’s trade request after he resisted the team’s plans to use him off the bench.
Giddey, a 6-foot-8 point guard from Australia, gets a fresh start after a challenging season in which his numbers dropped and he lost his starting job in the playoffs.
In a statement, Thunder general manager Sam Presti said he told Giddey after the season that the team envisioned using him as a reserve in 2024-25 “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 for him to envision, and conversations turned to him inquiring about potential opportunities elsewhere,” Presti said. “As always was the case, Josh demonstrated the utmost professionalism throughout the discussions.”
The Thunder went 57-25 to earn the top seed in the Western Conference and lost to Dallas in the conference semifinals.
Giddey was frequently booed on the road this season after an anonymous social media user accused him of having an improper relationship with an underage girl, leading to investigations by police in Newport Beach, California, and the NBA.
Newport Beach police completed their investigation in January and said The NBA also later dropped its investigation.
Giddey was the No. 6 overall pick in 2021 and he made the All-Rookie second team. He is a member of Australia’s national team that will play at the Paris Olympics this summer. He is an exceptional passer and his size makes him a solid rebounder.
Giddey averaged 16.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 6.2 assists in his second season, but those numbers dropped to 12.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in 2023-24.
Giddey’s play improved in the second half of this season after the Thunder traded for Gordon Hayward. In April regular-season games, Giddey averaged 16.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 5.5 assists while shooting 57.2% from the field.
Giddey’s playing time was reduced in the playoffs. He opened the second-round series against Dallas as a starter before being moved to a reserve role for the first time in his NBA career.
The 30-year-old Caruso, who plays point guard and shooting guard, was undrafted in 2016 and played for the Thunder’s G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, in 2016-17. He established himself as a defensive presence in four years with the Los Angeles Lakers and then three years with the Bulls.
He has career averages of 6.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.9 assists. He averaged a career-high 10.1 points this past season. He was on the all-defense first team in 2023 and the second team in 2024.
“Alex Caruso is a player we have always highly valued and followed,” Presti said. “He is the quintessential Thunder player; he is an exceptional competitor and teammate with a multi-dimensional skillset.”
The Thunder also have Cason Wallace, a second-team All-Rookie selection this past season, at point guard.
___
AP NBA:
CHICAGO (AP) — The Bulls and Thunder finalized a deal sending Josh Giddey to Chicago and Alex Caruso to Oklahoma City on Friday, with the Thunder granting the 21-year-old Giddey’s trade request after he resisted the team’s plans to use him off the bench.
Giddey, a 6-foot-8 point guard from Australia, gets a fresh start after a challenging season in which his numbers dropped and he lost his starting job in the playoffs.
In a statement, Thunder general manager Sam Presti said he told Giddey after the season that the team envisioned using him as a reserve in 2024-25 “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 for him to envision, and conversations turned to him inquiring about potential opportunities elsewhere,” Presti said. “As always was the case, Josh demonstrated the utmost professionalism throughout the discussions.”
The Thunder went 57-25 to earn the top seed in the Western Conference and lost to Dallas in the conference semifinals.
Giddey was frequently booed on the road this season after an anonymous social media user accused him of having an improper relationship with an underage girl, leading to investigations by police in Newport Beach, California, and the NBA.
Newport Beach police completed their investigation in January and said The NBA also later dropped its investigation.
Giddey was the No. 6 overall pick in 2021 and he made the All-Rookie second team. He is a member of Australia’s national team that will play at the Paris Olympics this summer. He is an exceptional passer and his size makes him a solid rebounder.
Giddey averaged 16.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 6.2 assists in his second season, but those numbers dropped to 12.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in 2023-24.
Giddey’s play improved in the second half of this season after the Thunder traded for Gordon Hayward. In April regular-season games, Giddey averaged 16.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 5.5 assists while shooting 57.2% from the field.
Giddey’s playing time was reduced in the playoffs. He opened the second-round series against Dallas as a starter before being moved to a reserve role for the first time in his NBA career.
The 30-year-old Caruso, who plays point guard and shooting guard, was undrafted in 2016 and played for the Thunder’s G League affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, in 2016-17. He established himself as a defensive presence in four years with the Los Angeles Lakers and then three years with the Bulls.
He has career averages of 6.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.9 assists. He averaged a career-high 10.1 points this past season. He was on the all-defense first team in 2023 and the second team in 2024.
“Alex Caruso is a player we have always highly valued and followed,” Presti said. “He is the quintessential Thunder player; he is an exceptional competitor and teammate with a multi-dimensional skillset.”
The Thunder also have Cason Wallace, a second-team All-Rookie selection this past season, at point guard.
___
AP NBA:
Kansas Governor Signs Bills Enabling Effort to Entice Chiefs and Royals with New Stadiums
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ governor signed legislation Friday enabling the state to lure the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and Major League Baseball’s Royals away from neighboring Missouri by helping the teams pay for new stadiums.
Gov. Laura Kelly’s action came three days after the Republican-led Legislature passed the bill with bipartisan supermajorities — an unusually quick turnaround that signals how urgently Kansas officials consider making the offers.
Missouri officials have argued that discussions about building new stadiums are still in the early stages. They said construction of a new one typically takes about three years and pointed out that the lease on the existing complex that includes the teams’ side-by-side stadiums doesn’t end until January 2031.
The measure Kelly signed takes effect July 1 and will allow bonds to cover part of a new stadium’s cost. The state would have 30 years to pay them off with revenues from sports betting, state lottery ticket sales, and new sales and alcohol taxes generated in the area around each proposed stadium.
The Kansas-Missouri border splits the 2.3 million-resident Kansas City area, with about 60% of the people living on the Missouri side.
Kansas officials began working on the legislation after voters on the Missouri side of the metropolitan area rejected a proposal to continue a sales tax used to maintain the existing stadium complex. The Royals outlined a plan in February to build a $2 billion-plus ballpark downtown, while the Chiefs were planning an $800 million renovation of their existing home.
Attorneys for the teams told Kansas legislators they needed to make decisions about the future soon for new stadiums to be ready on time — though the Royals had planned to move into a new downtown ballpark at the start of their 2028 season. Some critics suggested the teams are pitting the two states against each other for the biggest government subsidies possible.
“The Chiefs and the Royals are pretty much using us,” said state Rep. Susan Ruiz, a Democrat from the Kansas City, Kansas, area who voted against the bill.
Supporters of bringing the teams to Kansas warned that if neither state acts quickly enough, one or both teams could leave for another community entirely. Several economists who have studied professional sports were skeptical that a move would make financial sense for either a team or a new host city, and both the National Football League and Major League Baseball require a supermajority of owners to approve franchise moves.
The plan had support from throughout Kansas, including about half of the lawmakers from western Kansas, 200 miles (320 kilometers) away from any new stadium.
Kansas lawmakers approved the stadium financing plan during a single-day special session Tuesday. Kelly, a Democrat, called the session for the Legislature to consider tax cuts after vetoing three previous tax plans and legislators adjourned their regular annual session May 1. On Friday, she also signed a tax relief bill that will save income and property taxpayers a total of $500 million over the next three years.
Although the financing law doesn’t specifically name the Chiefs or Royals, it is limited to stadiums for National Football League and Major League Baseball teams “in any state adjacent to Kansas.”
“It’s fairly clearly about how you poach,” Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas said during a news conference after Kansas lawmakers approved the measure. He added that his city would “lay out a good offer” to keep both teams in town and that the teams “are in an exceptional leverage position.”
