Josh Giddey

Giddey is heading into his third season after putting up career highs of 16.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.9 free-throw attempts and 48.2 percent shooting from the field in 2022-23. Following his rookie season, where he proved to be a versatile offensive talent, Giddey doubled down on his reputation with 28 double-doubles and four triple-doubles in his sophomore campaign. He dropped a career-high 31 points on two occasions, once with 31 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists, and a second time with 31 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. He also had 16 games with more than 10 rebounds, peaking at a high of 17, in an outing where he also logged 27 points and seven assists. Giddey will continue to be a critical part of the rising Thunder squad and will likely remain the team's top distributor, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren will take up most of the shots. Giddey should still find a way to contribute at least 15 points per game thanks to his efficient scoring at close range and his three-point shooting that showed good improvement from the previous season. If he can continue improving his long-distance efficiency, Giddey will round out his offensive arsenal and appeal as a true multi-level scoring threat. On the other hand, the Australian forward shot a modest 73.1 percent from the foul line, which stands out as an attainable area for improvement that can help boost his scoring totals without even needing to take any more shots in the offense.

Despite taking managers through the rookie roller coaster of ups and downs, Giddey rounded into form toward the end and compiled a successful rookie campaign with the Thunder. In his first 30 games (October through December), he averaged 10.8 points on 39/25/65 shooting, 7.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists in 30.2 minutes. But the new year brought about new efficiency. In his 24 games in 2022, he averaged 14.5 points on 45/28/78 shooting, 8.6 rebounds and 6.8 assists in 33.4 minutes. Giddey exhibited tremendous upside as a passer as a 19-year-old, though his 47.8 true shooting percentage was awful and tracked with the pre-draft concerns that he may never be a great scorer. He had a heavy diet of floaters, with 33 percent of his shot attempts coming between 4-14 feet from the rim. Encouragingly, he hit 45 percent of those looks, and his improved free-throw percentage as the year wore on sparks some hope that he can consistently nail threes. Giddey should make strides this season while sharing playmaking responsibilities with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. His ceiling is only so high while sharing a team with someone as talented as Gilgeous-Alexander, but SGA's ability off the ball benefits Giddey's usage. Giddey ranked 95th in per-game production last season, so fantasy managers should undoubtedly look to draft him sooner this year.

For an 18-year-old in need of seasoning at the NBA level, Giddey is in an excellent spot to develop. But for the immediate future, Giddey may have difficulty gaining relevance in most fantasy leagues. He comes over from Australia with a diverse stat profile - 10.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.1 steals in the NBL last season - but he'll have to contend for touches with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort and a host of other young players the Thunder are looking to develop. We didn't get a great look at Giddey in Summer League, as he rolled his ankle early in his first game and played just six total minutes. As a poor shooter (29.3% 3PT; 69.1% FT) with a thin frame, Giddey doesn't project to have a major off-ball impact. He'll likely be eased into action early on, with his best chance for fantasy relevance coming later in the season if the Thunder deal some key players or embrace a full-on tank, as was the case over the second half of 2020-21.