Josh Giddey’s turnaround with the Chicago Bulls continued Wednesday with a monster game against the Miami Heat. Giddey recorded his career-high seventh triple-double of the season with 28 points, 16 rebounds, 11 assists, three blocks and two steals in a 119-111 victory, effectively clinching the No. 9 seed for the Bulls. In the process, Giddey joined LeBron James and Nikola Jokic as the only players this season to record at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists.
It has been quite the come-up for Giddey after a brutal start to his first season in Chicago. The point guard didn’t do much to quiet the critics after the much-maligned trade involving Alex Caruso and the Oklahoma City Thunder, but he has blown up in the second half of the season. This all happened to coincide with the departure of Zach LaVine in a trade with the Sacramento Kings.
Since the All-Star break, Giddey is averaging 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 9.3 assists while shooting 50.0% from the field and a shocking 45.7% from 3-point range. The 3-point shooting has been a sore spot for the 22-year-old in his career, but he has been knocking them down at a high rate for a couple months now. That, of course, includes a half-court heave that stunned the Los Angeles Lakers.
Giddey’s hot stretch couldn’t be coming at a better time. He’s set to be a restricted free this offseason and is playing himself into a big payday. Earlier in the season it looked like he might be lucky to get more than a one-year deal, but now he’ll likely get a lucrative long-term contract. Whether that’s a good thing for the Bulls depends on if he can keep this play going as opposed to being a flash in the pan.
Whatever the case, Giddey has been a key driver in Chicago turning its season around. Once 14 games under .500, the Bulls are now 37-43 and in line to finish with the same 39-43 record as last season. If things go as expected, there will be a rematch against the Heat in next week’s play-in tournament. Chicago will need Josh Giddey to continue playing at this level to make it through the play-in tournament and into the playoffs.
