Josh Giddey assisted the Chicago Bulls to a 135-125 win over the New York Knicks on Halloween, a victory that has the team off to its best start since the Michael Jordan era. Giddey's elite form has him squarely in the early all-star conversation, and if he continues to lead Chicago at this pace, he'll become the youngest Bulls player (23) to make an All-Star team since Derrick Rose.
Rose was 21 years old when he was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star Team in 2009-10. Jimmy Butler was 25 when he made his first in a Chicago uniform in 2014-15. Zach LaVine was also 25 when he forced his way into the mix in 2020-21. But -- at least through five games -- Giddey is playing at a higher level than either Butler or LaVine ever reached in the Windy City.
Josh Giddey on pace to become an All-Star at just 23 years old
It's easy to forget that Giddey is only 23. Coming into this season, he'd already started 279 NBA games across four seasons and averaged nearly 30 minutes per contest. He took a major leap after the All-Star break last year, averaging 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 9.3 assists with shooting splits of 50/46/81. It was naive to think he'd keep up that pace in 2025-26.
But maybe it wasn't.
Giddey's incredible performance against the Knicks -- he scored a career-high 32 points on 12-of-22 shooting and 4-for-8 from three (adding 10 rebounds and nine assists) -- was the latest piece of evidence that last year's jump is for real.
Through the Bulls' first five games, he's averaging 22.0 points, 8.8 rebounds and 8.0 assists while shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from three on 4.4 attempts a night.
Among all Eastern Conference guards, Giddey is 10th in points per game, fourth in assists per game, and he leads the conference in rebounding. Statistically, he's off to one of the best starts to the season of any point guard in the league.
Should that hold up, he'd be a guaranteed All-Star and in the running to be an All-Star starter. The Australian floor general would also have himself in the conversation to be the NBA's Most Improved Player.
Can Giddey stay this hot? Was last year's leap a flash in the pan, or was it for real? If he continues to play like one of the league's best players and does it on one of its best teams, it's going to be difficult to think he's anything but an All-Star -- if not All-NBA -- point guard.