Bulls’ Josh Giddey admits ‘weird feeling’ on Thunder’s NBA championship
Prior to the start of the 2024-25 season, the Oklahoma City Thunder made two crucial moves that enabled their leap from good to great team. They acquired Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency to patch up their rebounding woes, and then in a bit of a surprise,
Suffice to say, those moves worked out wonderfully for the Thunder. They won the NBA title, with Caruso and Hartenstein being instrumental in that playoff run of theirs.
Prior to the Bulls' 126-113 win over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, Giddey admitted that he feels a bit “weird” seeing the Thunder hoist the title considering how fast everything developed.
“It was a weird feeling because I was with them a year ago. I'm very close to all the guys still. To see that was a weird feeling. Obviously, there's zero bad blood there. So I was very very happy,” Giddey told Malika Andrews on ESPN's NBA Today.
Giddey's focus will solely be on the Bulls from here on out. But this doesn't mean that he's not rooting for the Thunder any longer. Giddey spent the first three seasons of his career in OKC and developed into an impressive playmaker and stat-sheet stuffer.
At the very least, Giddey will have all the opportunity in the world to blossom into an All-Star with the Bulls, as he's their primary playmaker and lead ballhandler.
Josh Giddey's trade from Thunder to Bulls: for the best for both parties
Towards the end of Giddey's Thunder tenure, he was already being marginalized in the offense. He was playing worse basketball than ever before in the NBA, and it did not help whatsoever that he was going through some off-court issues at the time.
With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander being entrusted with primary ballhandling duties, the Thunder decided to trade Giddey away for a better fit in Caruso. This worked out for them, if an NBA championship is any indication. But Giddey is now free to continue on his star trajectory with the Bulls. This is the kind of trade where every party involved seemed to win, although Giddey did lose out on winning a title, so there's that.
Giants RB Tyrone Tracy Jr. Returns to New and Familiar Territory
What's old is new again for the New York Giants.
The Giants will return to familiar territory in the post-Cam Skattebo era, as Tyrone Tracy Jr. will reprise his role as top rusher now that the touted rookie is out for the season after enduring a devastating ankle injury in Philadelphia last weekend.
Back in the top depth chart slot is Tracy, who began the year in that role before giving way to the fan-favorite freshman Skattebo.
"This year, every week, whether I was RB1 or not, I approached it that way. I approached it as if I was the starting running back," Tracy said upon his medically-induced promotion.
"You never know how a game is going to go. You never know the variables throughout the game or who's going to get the hot hand or whatever. That's why I went about it that way.
"I'm just programmed and it's in my DNA just to go about it that way as well," Tracy continued.
"That's the biggest change right now. I'm really just going to every game as if I'm RB1. This week is nothing different."
Tracy's first test in his return to the top duties lands on Sunday afternoon when the Giants welcome the San Francisco 49ers (1 p.m. ET, CBS).
Tracy’s workload was reduced amidst Skattebo's ascension. The second-year player picked up only 74 yards on 26 carries in the first three games, this after a rookie campaign in which he put up 1,184 yards from scrimmage in his first metropolitan tours.
Even with Skattebo in the lineup, though, Tracy showed he’s still a viable option. He earned 85 yards on 19 carries in the last two weeks while entering the end zone during the recent defeat in Denver.
While Tracy is used to the rigors that the top running back spot has to offer, there's a little more pressure to perform this time around. Skattebo's entry helped generate some long-sought offensive momentum and gave the Giants a purpose in another woebegone campaign.
He also has to replace Skattebo, who quickly won over New Yorkers with his multi-faceted sense of reckless abandon in the backfield.
Tracy can make an impact both through the air and on the ground, drawing on his own tenacity as a 5-foot-10, 210-pound back and Day 3 pick looking to secure NFL longevity.
He's not looking to imitate Skattebo, but instead to bring the firm aggressiveness that helped him make his own freshman statement.
"I'm not going to try to be anyone else but Tyrone Tracy Jr.," Tracy declared. "That's because that's all I can be on the football field, and I think that God has blessed me enough to go out there and just be myself.
"I'm not going to try to really bring any extra energy, I'm just going to go out there and do what I can to put my team in the best situation possible, whether it's running, catching the ball in the backfield, or blocking, or really just being a cheerleader on the sideline when the defense is up or whatever. Whatever I’ve got to do to put my team in a great situation, I'm going to do that."
