#1 Josh Giddey – Guard – Australia
Arguably the best international prospect in this year’s draft class is guard Josh Giddey from Australia. Standing 6’8” as a combo-guard, Giddey does a little bit of everything on the court and is not afraid of boasting about how good he is/can be.
In fact, the Australian guard compared himself to Ben Simmons a few months back when talking with Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. While many may question this comparison, especially after the scrutiny that Simmons has received this offseason, plenty of teams would be thrilled to add a player like Ben Simmons to their rotation, which is why they should be interested in Josh Giddey as well.
His length and size are obviously two major things that stick out about Giddey, but his versatility to make plays on or off-the-ball is what makes him one of the best guard prospects in this year’s draft class. Being only 18-years-old, Josh Giddey is one of the younger guard prospects in this year’s draft, but he brings prior playing experience with him to the NBA, as he spent this year playing for the Adelaide 36ers in the NBL.
There, he averaged 10.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.5 assists and shot 29.3% from three-point range in about 32.1 minutes per game. Giddey does have work to do with his jump shot, but he really does control a game when he is playing.
Watching Josh Giddey play is quite exciting because of the plays he is able to make for himself and others. Giddey played a lot of isolation basketball this year in Australia, but the thing that separates himself from others is the fact that he takes his time picking apart his opponent.
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Very rarely does Giddey lose control of the basketball and he seems to play with a certain “swagger” to him that shows he is not afraid of anybody. In terms of athleticism, he is not going to “wow” teams/players in the NBA, but he makes up for his lack of athleticism with his length.
There really are no major flaws to Josh Giddey’s game, just minor fixes, which is why he could absolutely be a perfect fit in Memphis next to Ja Morant as a guard who can play with or without the ball. He has the size to be an impactful defender with training and he is an all-around playmaker, which is why he could thrive with an athletic guard like Morant next to him.
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Having a “do-it-all” player is valuable in this league, but having this kind of talent in a point guard is extremely valuable. We have seen the success guys like Ben Simmons and Russell Westbrook have had being “do-it-all” threats at the point guard position, which is why Josh Giddey could find a lot of success at the NBA level.
He is still a very raw prospect and has a lot of growing skill wise to do before he is going to be an impactful player each and every night in the NBA, but with the Memphis Grizzlies having time to devote to his development moving forward, Giddey could really be a valuable assets on this Grizzlies’ roster for a long-time to come.
