‘Stars align’ for Giddey to shine as the NBA’s premier rookie

Two Melbourne-born NBA stars are dominating the headlines ahead of the start of the NBA season on Wednesday, but a Victorian rookie is making waves of his own.

Kyrie Irving’s vaccination stance and Ben Simmons’ ongoing trade request have dominated pre-season storylines, but 19-year-old Josh Giddey, the second-youngest player in the league this season behind San Antonio’s Joshua Primo, has pushed into rookie-of-the-year calculations after some stellar games for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Brooklyn Nets have told Irving he can’t rejoin their team until he has had at least one COVID-19 vaccination shot, something Irving says he is choosing not to do, while Simmons is poised to re-join the Philadelphia 76ers and will train with them on Monday (AEDT).

As those soap operas continue, Giddey is adding more fans with every game due to his innate passing ability and his fearless drives to the basket.

Giddey started at shooting guard in back-to-back games against the Denver Nuggets this week, helping his young side to a win over the Nuggets before almost having a triple-double in a loss on Friday.

Giddey knows he will face all kinds of hurdles in his first 82-game NBA season but he intends to take them head-on.

Australian NBA rookie Josh Giddey.Credit: Getty Images

Few people know Giddey better than Australian legend Andrew Gaze, who played with Giddey’s father Warrick Giddey at the NBL’s Melbourne Tigers and who has coached Josh throughout his career.

“It’s a very, very, very, very small sample size, and you got to always keep in context, but there’s enough evidence to make us feel confident about the situation he’s in, the opportunity he will get, and his ability to make the most of it,” Gaze told The Age and the Herald.

“All the stars seem to align in the program that he’s got, where he’s at and how he can develop.

“It may be a bit of a honeymoon period but gee there is a lot of fun being had on the honeymoon.”

Giddey told media in OKC this week he wasn’t interested in the rookie of the year honours after being the sixth pick in this year’s NBA Draft.

“I don’t really come in with any individual kind of goals to win rookie of the year, to average these stats, or whatever,” Giddey said.

“For me, it’s about building a winning culture here.”

The Thunder have assembled a young core who, in pre-season, have shown an aptitude to pass and create for each other which is something teams with more established stars struggle to do.

That style suits Giddey and Gaze is confident the young Australian, who was among the last cuts from the Boomers’ Tokyo Olympic side, will continue to hold his own in a marathon season.

“Having seen him grow up, he’s one of those players who always plays to their level,” Gaze said.

“When you watch him at Adelaide 36ers or with the Boomers and even as a junior when he played with older age groups - he never looked out of place and could always find a way to play and compete, so it’s not a huge surprise.

“He really loves the game. When he was younger, he would raid his dad’s video collection and come to training talking about this game or that game I played in [years ago] - at the time I wondered if ‘Waz’ was making him sit down and watch them but it was just him and his love for the strategies and skills of the game.

“Because of that he will be able to deal with that fatigue you go through across an 82-game season, there will be periods when it’s tough but with his mindset, approach and attitude, he’s well-placed to deal with it.”

Nets will be grateful for Mills

Olympic hero Patty Mills’ free-agent move to Brooklyn Nets this season hasn’t started as he would have planned due to Irving’s ongoing absence.

But Gaze said the Nets would be even more grateful to have the Olympic bronze medallist on their roster.

“Patty has great perspective on the game and on life but I think this wouldn’t be fazing him one bit,” Gaze said.

“He would want Kyrie to be there to give them the best possible team to win a championship but he understands that from time to time you will have players who are injured or don’t see eye to eye or may have views which can be a distraction.

“I think the Nets would be so relieved to have someone of Patty’s character because, not only from a basketball perspective but a morale and cultural perspective, Patty is the kind of player you want around when you are going through problems like this.”

Simmons needs to play

Gaze believes it would serve both Simmons and the Sixers best if the Australian All-Star returned to the court and reminded potential teams of his talents, after being embroiled in a bitter battle with team management. He did not play in the 76ers’ final pre-season game on Saturday, but coach Doc Rivers said he would rejoin team training on Monday.

“I think for his own sake and the team, there would be an understanding that in order for both parties to come away with an amicable separation, it’s probably best served if he does play,” Gaze said.

“You have a better chance to get to a destination that he wants to go to and enables the Sixers to get a return on their investment which they are hoping for. It’s in everyone’s best interest to get along, in the short term, but I think the prospect of him finishing his career in Philadelphia is highly remote.”

Boomers to kick on

Gaze is still revelling in the emotions of the Boomers’ long-awaited bronze medal win and believes those who followed the team at the Olympics will gravitate to the likes of Josh Green (Dallas Mavericks) and Matisse Thybulle (Philadelphia 76ers).

“I used to follow Josh a little bit because I knew he was Australian but now you feel a greater affinity for him and watching his progress more closely than if he wasn’t involved,” Gaze said.

“Same with the others, Matisse was a passing interest while watching Ben play with the Sixers but after seeing him with the Boomers, he now becomes one of us and we are incredibly biased towards him, cheering for him and wanting him to do well because of the incredible joy that his efforts, along with others, provided for us in Tokyo.”

When Australia’s NBA players begin their seasons

• Patty Mills (Brooklyn v Milwaukee, October 20)
• Ben Simmons/Matisse Thybulle (Philadelphia v New Orleans, October 21)
• Dante Exum (Houston v Minnesota, October 21)
• Jock Landale (San Antonio v Orlando, October 21)
• Josh Giddey and Joe Ingles (Oklahoma City v Utah, October 21)
• Josh Green (Dallas v Atlanta, October 22)