The Oklahoma City Thunder made one of the first surprise picks of the 2021 NBA Draft when they took Australian prospect Josh Giddey with the sixth overall pick. A 6-foot-9 jumbo guard, he has an extremely high ceiling, but wasn’t projected to he taken quite that early on draft night.
Ever since being selected by Oklahoma City back in July, Giddey has talked a lot about how happy he is to be a part of the Thunder organization.
Even on draft night, Giddey made it clear how excited he was to be in Oklahoma City, calling the Thunder one of his favorite teams.
It wasn’t until later that he revealed his true desire to become a member of the Thunder all along.
“Ever since the pre-draft process started, Oklahoma [City] is where I wanted to be. I said to my agent, ‘You’ve got to do everything you can to talk to these guys and get them to draft me,'” Giddey told Thunder reporter Nick Gallo.
With that in mind, Giddey mentioned in his rookie press conference that he was surprised when he heard his name so early on draft night. While he wanted to be part of the team, he wasn’t sure if they’d be willing to select him at sixth.
Nonetheless, he made enough of an impression on the Thunder front office to be worth the pick in their eyes.
Set to be the second-youngest player in the entire NBA next season, Giddey has high expectations even at such a young age. On a rebuilding team that took a chance on him at No. 6 overall, he’ll be expected to become a franchise cornerstone and someone who can bring the team back to a championship level.
After missing nearly all of NBA Summer League last month with an injury, Thunder fans should get their first extended look at Giddey in OKC’s preseason opener against the Charlotte Hornets on Oct. 4.
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