Josh Giddey opens up on toughest season of his career, determined to stay with Oklahoma City Thunder in NBA

In a candid interview, Josh Giddey has vowed to bounce back from the toughest season of his career, determined to stay with the Oklahoma City Thunder despite being dropped for the final two playoff games.

NBA star Josh Giddey says he is determined to stay with Oklahoma City and repay the franchise’s faith after the toughest season of his career saw him benched in the second round of the playoffs.

The No.6 overall draft pick is one of the NBA’s rising stars but endured a challenging end to his third season when he lost his starting role for the first time in the final two games of the series defeat against the Mavericks.

Giddey is eligible for an extension with the Thunder entering his fourth season but could be traded_ or even re-signed then still traded _ given the stacked Oklahoma City team has other playmakers ahead of him on their depth chart.

In that series as Oklahoma City lost to Dallas his opponents dared him to shoot and his productivity slumped, with the 21-year-old eventually replaced in his starting role by teammate Isaiah Joe.

It capped the most challenging year of the 21-year-old’s career as he was eventually cleared of an improper relationship with an underage girl.

But opening up in an exclusive interview with News Corp, Giddey told this masthead he was desperate to stay with Oklahoma City.

Josh Giddey wants to remain with the Oklahoma City Thunder despite having the toughest season of his career. Picture: Joshua Gateley/Getty Images/AFP

“Yeah, I love it there. The city, the fans have embraced me since day one, the organisation, (general manager) Sam Presti, (coach) Mark (Daigneault), everyone has been awesome for me. They stuck with me through some pretty tough days so I love the city, I love the team and I am excited to keep going with the guys we have,” he said.

“It was a tough year. There is no really sugar coating it. It was covered pretty heavily by the media and with that side of things.

“It’s hard because in the playoffs everything is magnified and the lens is a lot bigger on the game and what you are doing. I tried to stay out of it as much as I could but that stuff just tends to find you.

“Especially as a 21-year-old, you are on social media, you see everything. I tried my best to do the best I could to block it out.

Josh Giddey is recharging with friends and family in Melbourne. Picture: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images/AFP

“It’s not easy, but it was why I was so excited to get back here (to Melbourne), around friends and family where I am comfortable and get into the off season.”

Giddey is due a base salary of AUS$12.6 million in his fourth-year deal but teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s extraordinary season makes him eligible for a AUS $438 million super-max extension, which will squeeze OKC’s salary cap.

Asked if repaying the club’s faith was a factor after a tough season, Giddey said it was a key consideration.

“Definitely and I love my guys. We started together, a lot of us started together when we weren’t winning games and we were right at the bottom of the table.

Josh Giddey knows he has work to do in the off-season. Picture: Joshua Gateley/Getty Images/AFP

“Teams were resting their best players against us because we were seen as a walkover team and now we are at the point where two three years later we are competing for championships and we are right there. We finished the first seed in the west which is an unbelievable trajectory of where we were 24 months ago.”

Now after being challenged on his shooting — he hit double-figures only once in that five-game second-round loss — he knows he must become a more lethal playmaker.

“I was just so excited for the off-season. I knew there were so many things I had to work on,“ he said.

Soon as I got back here (to Melbourne), literally the day I landed it was 7am and my trainers both got to town _ Tony (Vasaturo), Nik Popovic my weights guy.

“We started that day, I was so ready to get back into it. I knew I had a lot of things to work on and the off-season was the perfect time.

“It was a tough end to the season for us and for me and I couldn’t wait to get back home and keep redefining my game and working on the things I needed to.”

Originally published as Josh Giddey opens up on toughest season of his career, determined to stay with Oklahoma City Thunder in NBA