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Josh Giddey wins NBA Rookie of the Month Award

Clemente Almanza
·2 min read

The NBA announced its Rookie of the Month winners for each conference Thursday afternoon for the combined months of October and November, and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Josh Giddey was named the top rookie in the Western Conference..

For the Eastern Conference, Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley won the award. Mobley went third overall and Giddey went sixth overall in the 2021 NBA Drafts.

In 20 starts, Giddey averaged 10.4 points, 5.8 assists and 7.2 rebounds. The assists rank first and the rebounds rank third among the rookie class.

Giddey now joins Russell Westbrook (Dec. 2008 & Feb. 2009) as the only other player in Thunder history to win the award.

Giddey’s consensus draft profile of a tall playmaker with elite passing skills and rebounding skills for his position has so far rung true a month into the season. The rookie’s questionable jumper has also been noticeable. But Thunder fans should be impressed with his aggressiveness and willingness to shoot the ball. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done, but these are great signs that Giddey’s jumper is salvageable if he puts the work in. There have already been a couple of games this season where Giddey’s three pointer looked really polished and was going through the ring. Particularly against the Boston Celtics on Nov. 20 where he went 4-of-6 from three and against the Utah Jazz on Nov. 24, where he went 3-of-4.

It’s still very early in the process, but the Thunder must feel really good about themselves with selecting Giddey sixth overall. The team had the worst lottery luck out of anybody else last summer and they were able to make the best out of their situation by selecting the former NBLer sixth overall. The return on investment has been a positive for the franchise and they must feel very excited about the future of the team with a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey backcourt.

Giddey has missed the last two games with an illness.

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