11th-Best may not be good enough for Bulls according to NBA guru

Josh Giddey must improve as a shooter and he will

Let’s get one thing straight: Concerns about Giddey’s shooting are largely overblown. Yes, he was targeted in the playoffs, but the Bulls are a long way from worrying about that and there wasn’t a role for him on the Thunder that played to his strengths. 

Giddey has improved as a 3-point shooter every year he’s been in the league, topping out at 33.7 percent last season on three attempts per game, not great by any measure, but not hopeless. 

But there is no doubt that Giddey has to be more of a threat off the ball or teams will continue to sag off and dare him to shoot as they did in the playoffs. Increasing his attempts is almost as important as increasing accuracy, as right now, teams just don’t worry about him shooting because they don’t think he will. 

Giddey needs to shoot more from the outside to make teams at least respect him from there. 

The good news is that he is only 21-years-old, has shown consistent improvement and there is ample evidence that players can evolve into competent shooters. Jason Kidd was an All-Star shooting 33 percent from long range (on double the attempts), and eventually improved to an above-average 3-point shooter, so there is certainly a path for Giddey to do the same. 

He’s not going to morph into Steph Curry, but if Giddey can shoot 35 percent on 5-6 attempts per game, he’ll be more of an offensive weapon for the Bulls and well worth the big investment they are likely to make. 

But what happens when the roster has more talent?