CHICAGO — As he sat at his locker icing his feet following another frustrating night, Josh Giddey stared blankly toward the floor. He didn’t move. He didn’t talk.
For the second straight night, the Chicago Bulls had just gotten torched. On Sunday, the Houston Rockets exploited Chicago’s rickety defense in a 143-107 win inside the United Center. Two nights earlier, the Bulls yielded an opponent’s season-high 144 points in a road loss against the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers.
“We’re giving up way too many points,” Giddey said. “We’re not defending. It’s just too many lapses defensively. Teams are getting going, and it’s hard to win any game when you’re giving up that many points.
“We’ve got to figure it out as a team. It’s not one guy. It’s everybody.”
This is far from the start Giddey envisioned in his debut season with the Bulls (5-9).
“Not even close,” he said.
Giddey, in many ways, has become the face of Chicago’s frustrations. In the team’s previous four games, he was absent from the closing lineup. His defensive shortcomings, a cause for concern entering the season, have been on full display. Against the Cavs, Giddey committed three fouls in 10 first-half minutes. Bulls coach Billy Donovan was forced to start Ayo Dosunmu in Giddey’s place for the second half, only for Giddey to be whistled for his fourth foul just 28 seconds after checking into the third quarter. Cleveland’s dynamic backcourt duo of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland attacked Giddey again and again.
Giddey confessed after the Cavs game that his performance shook his confidence. After the Rockets ran it up, Giddey looked stumped.
“I’ve got to find ways to help us win games, and so does everybody else,” Giddey said. “We haven’t done that for the first 14 games we’ve played. Luckily, we’ve got a lot of season left to go, but I’ve got to pick my s— up, and we’ve got to be better as a team.”
A frustrated Josh Giddey is looking for more out of himself and his team as the season continues. (Matt Marton / Imagn Images)
Giddey arrived in Chicago hoping a change of scenery would be the key to him unlocking his potential, yet he’s averaging only 2.1 more minutes than he did last season with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He holds an identical 12.3-point scoring average, but it’s on a career-low 41.1 percent shooting.
Asked what he feels he must do better, Giddey said “everything.”
“Play harder. Defend. Rebound. Get guys involved. Get guys looks,” he said. “As a point guard, that’s my job, to make life easier for everybody else, and I don’t feel like I’ve done that nearly as good as I need to. Defensively, I’ve got to be a lot better. … I’m not going to blame anyone or point the finger at anybody. I’m the first one to look in the mirror and say, ‘I’ve got to be better,’ and I will be. It’s just a tough, tough start to the year.”
In the backdrop of Giddey’s slow start is his looming contract extension. He’s set to become a restricted free agent next summer after he and the Bulls failed to reach an agreement before the season. After sending Alex Caruso to the Thunder for Giddey, the Bulls might have little choice but to re-sign Giddey. Much of the decision, however, will depend on the price tag, which reportedly could approach $30 million annually.
The Bulls have 68 games left to evaluate Giddey, and the pivotal question involves whether his strengths outweigh his weaknesses. The Bulls love that Giddey, 22, has plenty of room to develop as a player. His mix of size, rebounding, court vision, passing and savvy are traits Chicago thinks fit well. Still, Giddey’s man defense, streaky perimeter shooting and below-average free-throw shooting, as well as his lack of burst to beat his man off the dribble, have been glaring holes.
As much as they can, the Bulls are trying to focus on what Giddey does well while covering his flaws.
“He’s got to become what I would consider an expert in terms of game-plan coverages for himself,” Donovan said.
There’s also the matter of how much Giddey impacts winning. The Bulls have been outscored by 111 points with Giddey on the floor, the worst plus-minus on the team. Giddey is one-fifth of a defensively challenged starting lineup, so it’s unfair to pin the blame for that stat on him alone. But the Bulls are hiding Giddey as best they can.
They put him on Rockets forward Tari Eason on Sunday. Donovan also subbed out Giddey four minutes into the game and only two minutes into the second half. The explanation centered on rest and limiting players’ first-half minutes. But the decision also allows Giddey to spend more time against reserves. When the Bulls trailed by only 13 in the final three minutes of the first half, Patrick Williams spelled Giddey for those closing minutes.
For now, all the Bulls can do is continue coaching Giddey. Games are coming fast, though, and practice time is limited. Extra training isn’t a cure-all.
But as Donovan said, other talented offensive players have had to overcome defensive issues. Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry and New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson are two players Donovan identified as examples.
“That’s the reason I have confidence in Josh. Josh is smart. He’s got a high IQ. He knows the game,” Donovan said. “He’s going to have to lean into that, embrace that and become elite at it. There have been a lot of really good basketball players who have had to deal with the same thing he’s had to deal with. Now he’s got to step up as a young player being 22 years old and work it out.”
(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
