As Josh Giddey returns to OKC for the first time since he was traded, the most predictable outcome has materialized in recent days — Chicago Bulls fans trying to victory lap a trade they were widely mocked for by posting disingenuous graphics comparing Giddey's and Alex Caruso's box score stats.
Giddey has earned the praise. He's been a 22-point triple-double machine since the All-Star break. A half-court game-winner against the Los Angeles Lakers last week was the perfect moment to catapult him to the top of the NBA world's mind to reflect on his self-gamble that's paid off.
After being benched in the Thunder's final two playoff games last season, Giddey's exit interview with Sam Presti left only one option on the table if he were to return for a fourth season in OKC — come off the bench. It wasn't a direct divorce but a subtle nudge that their best course of action was for both parties to move on from each other.
It would've been unfair for Giddey to cut his career earnings by being a bench player. It also would've been unjust for the Thunder to allow him back into a primary ball-handler role when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams surpassed him on the totem pole.
A fresh start made all the sense in the world for both sides. That's when the Bulls came along. Fresh off back-to-back All-Defensive Team honors, Alex Caruso was likely on the move. The 31-year-old didn't fit Chicago's window as it hit a soft rebuild. Considering his previous time in OKC, he'd be the perfect role player to add that could better fit what the Thunder needed.
The trade was ridiculed because the Bulls couldn't gain a draft pick out of it, but if Giddey hit his ceiling as a high-end point guard, that wasn't going to matter. Well, he's done that this season. The 22-year-old has played like a franchise cornerstone and will get handsomely paid for it in the offseason as his rookie deal is set to expire.
Everybody on the Thunder have spoken glowingly about Giddey's progression this season in his new role. That said though, it's difficult to envision him having similar success if he stayed in OKC. The pathway wasn't there. They had too many better players and ball-handlers ahead of him on the depth chart.
The next logical step was to make the best of an awkward situation and trade away Giddey for a player who could fill in the holes that existed on their roster. Trading talent-for-need is the type of move a title contender makes all the time.
That's why it's weaponized incompetence when Bulls fans bring up Caruso's averages. Considering he was there for three seasons, they should know better than 27 other fanbases why you can't measure him by those numbers. What he brings to the table can only be measured with advanced metrics and the good old-fashioned eyeball test.
The Thunder have decreased Caruso's workload in the regular season. They're saving him up for a hopeful deep playoff run ala what the Golden State Warriors did with Andre Iguodala. But even in his limited action, you can see him single-handedly disrupt the game's ...
