Josh Giddey has blown expectations out of the water in his early days with Oklahoma City.
The youngest player in the NBA, the Australian guard was recently named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month.
Australian basketball great Chris Anstey has been on the Giddey bandwagon for a long time and believes he has the potential to evolve into one of the best guards in the league.
“I spoke on a podcast more than 12 months ago and in my mind he’s Luka Doncic without that level of jump shot,” Anstey told Sportsday.
“He reads the game that well, he plays at the same sort of speed, his IQ is off the charts, his three-point shot is better in the NBA than in the NBL.
“Look, there’s no direct correlation, but you look at what OKC did without him and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, they lost by 73 points (to Memphis) just a few days ago.
“They got them back in the line-up against Detroit and they’re winning basketball games and not many people expected that.
“I was fortunate enough to play with Steve Nash who was someone who just made teammates around him better and was an incredible human being and I think Josh Giddey has the potential to be just like Steve Nash.”
Anstey couldn’t speak more glowingly about Giddey and his development over time.
“Josh is the most humble student of the game and just an incredible kid, the youngest player in the NBA and just has a wise head on those shoulders,” he said.
“We’re speaking about the future of Australian basketball. We can’t wait to see him put on a Boomers uniform.
“I can’t wait to see what he does in the NBA in three years. There were a few eyebrows raised when he was drafted at number six and not many people were sold, but very few aren’t now.
“He’s very high up across every statistical category among rookies in the NBA. I don’t think he’ll win it, but he’ll be in the Rookie of the Year conversation.”
Giddey has averaged 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists per game in his rookie season for the Thunder.
He will likely make his Boomers debut in the 2023 World Cup, after narrowly missing the 15-man squad for the Tokyo Olympics.
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