OKLAHOMA CITY — As far as NBA trades go, few could be cleaner than Josh Giddey for Alex Caruso.
No supplemental throw-ins to make the money equitable. No future draft picks. No lottery protections. No extra teams to make the puzzle pieces fit.
Ballplayer for ballplayer. Rarely happens in pro sports. But it’s fun when it does. Sure makes for easy analysis of the deal. Who won the trade, who lost the trade, what are the trade grades?
Thunder Bulls Basketball
Oklahoma City’s Alex Caruso, left, pressures Chicago’s Josh Giddey during an October 2024 game. Both teams have come out ahead after the Thunder and Bulls swapped Caruso and Giddey for one another last summer. Charles Rex Arbogast, Associated Press
But Mark Daigneault has some ideas on trades. He says virtually every trade is solid, made for good reasons, else the deal never would have been launched.
“All trades are inherently mutually beneficial,” the Thunder coach said. “Then everyone else decides winners or losers, and they usually decide it 10 seconds after it happens. I wouldn’t say that’s the best framework for evaluating trades. At the end of the day, the teams are doing what’s in their best interest for a lot of different reasons.”
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Which brings us to the Giddey/Caruso trade of last June, which was widely panned from the Bulls’ perspective. Pundits figured Chicago could have and should have demanded some of Sam Presti’s draft equity.
But with the NBA playoffs nearing, and the Bulls on Monday night making their only OKC appearance this season, it’s time to gauge the trade. And truth is, the deal was excellent for both.
And if you’ve got to pick which franchise is most pleased, you might just go with Chicago.
“That’s one where both teams benefited, and the players individually benefited,” Daigneault said.
The Bulls got a unique point guard who ranks among the NBA's best rebounders for his position and best passers overall. Giddey has produced five triple-doubles this season, after averaging four a year for the Thunder. Turns out, Giddey’s shooting in Chicago is much better than it was with Oklahoma City.
Meanwhile, the Thunder got an elite dynamo defender — to go with Luguentz Dort and Cason Wallace, forming quite the perimeter force — and a solid offensive player with championship experience.
The Monday ScissorTales explain why OU women’s basketball isn’t far off from elite status, check in on Mike Gundy trying to learn everyone’s name and list the coaches who have left Oklahoma schools and eventually made the Final Four. But we start with the Giddey/Caruso trade.
Giddey has been everything the Bulls hoped for. So has Caruso for the Thunder. But Giddey has produced an even better season than anything he did in OKC; he’s shooting 38 percent from 3-point range, after shooting 31 percent over three Thunder seasons. And the only knock on Caruso as a Thunder has been his injuries; he’s missed 25 games this season with a variety of small ailments.
Neither side has regrets. Giddey looks to be a Chicago cornerstone. The Thunder is thrilled to have Caruso for the playoff run as OKC has few defensive holes in its rotation.
“Alex ended up in a situation that he wanted to be in,” Daigneault said, referring not just to a playoff contender but the Thunder’s status as the NBA’s best team. “Josh is obviously able to play a role there that shows his talent, in a contract year, and is maximizing that. We’re certainly happy for him. Not surprised. He’s a really really talented player. But we’re happy for him. Happy to see him having success.”
Giddey made national news last week with his half-court shot that beat the Lakers, but he already had settled in nicely with the Bulls.
Giddey’s minutes are slightly up, as are his scoring (14.2 point per game; he averaged 13.9 with OKC), rebounding (7.8/7.3) and assists (6.9/5.7). Plus that 3-point shooting makes him a completely different threat.
Giddey remains just 22 years old. He’s a potential Eastern Conference all-star. Future historians might not take kindly to the Thunder side of this trade.
But we know that Caruso/Giddey was a fine deal for the Thunder. Giddey’s talents were superfluous on this OKC roster. The ball needs to be in the hands of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Jalen Williams. Giddey was good, but he was a third wheel.
There are no defensive third wheels. You can’t have too many shutdown defenders.
The Thunder likes what it has. The Bulls like what they have.
“There’s a lot of initial reasons” trades are made, Daigneault said. “Then there’s also secondary ancillary reasons that people don’t know they see or understand. Nor do we feel the need to explain them.”
No explanation needed. Caruso/Giddey looked mutually beneficial when it happened. It looks the same today.
OU women near, just not here
OU women’s basketball has reached three Final Fours: 2002, 2010, 2011. One common denominator marked those Sooner squads. Elite point guards.
Stacey Dales in 2002, Danielle Robinson in 2010 and 2011. The Sooners really haven’t had an elite point guard other than those two all-Americans.
So last week, when the nation’s top female basketball recruit, Aaliyah Chavez, committed to OU, you thought the Sooners’ return to glory was near. Then for a half Saturday in Spokane, Washington, you thought that return was here.
OU led mighty Connecticut 36-32 at halftime of the regional semifinal, and an upset seemed within the Sooners’ grasp. Then soon enough, Paige Bueckers produced a 40-point game, Connecticut had an 83-59 victory and Jennie Baranczyk’s Sooners were back on the near, not the here, schedule.
Five veterans, including three players off Sherri Coale’s 2020-21 team, move on, but stars Reagan Beers and Payton Verhulst return, as does Sahara Williams, That’s OU’s top three scorers. And then comes Chavez, who should take over at the all-important point.
Baranczyk has been piece-mealing the point guard position. Tiny Nevaeh Tot, 5-foot-3, started 105 games her first four seasons, including 33 each of the last two years. Tot got 19 starts this season, then Baranczyk made the switch to Reyna Scott. Both Scott and Tot were/are hearty players, but when the competition increases, and the pressure rises, an elite point guard is required.
NCAA Oklahoma UConn Basketball
Oklahoma head coach Jennie Baranczyk directs her team against UConn on Saturday in Spokane, Wash. Young Kwak, Associated Press
Put Beers, Verhulst and Williams with a difference-making point guard, and the Sooners look completely different.
“Recruiting's the lifeblood of what you do, and we've got to establish more of a culture,” Baranczyk said. “We've got incredible people that work really hard, and they have never worked this hard, and they're going to work harder.”
Baranczyk said the Southeastern Conference has given the Sooners additional exposure, interest has spiked and high-caliber players are reaching out to OU.
“So I know it will continue to evolve because of the women in that locker room, but also we want to get better and we want to attract players that really want to take us to another level and want to have a great team to do it,” Baranczyk said.
Gundy could use name tags
Mike Gundy has the strange habit of sometimes referring to his players by jersey number, instead of name. Don’t expect that to change in 2025.
Gundy has a completely new staff, plus all kinds of newcomers on his roster. He says it’s a challenge for a 57-year-old man.
"I know the assistants and all the coaches and most of the players,” Gundy said. “So, if you line them all up, I'm not saying I could get all 104 of them right, but I'm pretty close.
“I will say, 'Hey, tell me your name again.' I'm not trying to hide it, but I'm doing good. You've got to realize, I'm getting older. We're talking about 200 people."
OSU Football (copy)
Mike Gundy says it’s a challenge to keep up with every face on his completely new staff, plus all kinds of newcomers on his roster. NATHAN J. FISH, THE OKLAHOMAN FILE
OSU figures to have as many as 42 newcomers on the team, combining transfers and freshmen. Plus all the new coaches and support personnel. It’s an extreme makeover on personnel.
“First time I've ever been through this,” Gundy said. “Obviously, I've not had staff changes in the past that amount to (large numbers). And certainly not this many numbers with players, but we all know, we've talked about it a number of times, the genie is not going back in the bottle. I'll feel my way through it over the next six months and see how it feels, but it's been OK.
“Once we got settled in after about a month of offseason training, it felt normal. Then of course recruiting picks up, so that feels normal. Recruiting is different, but it still felt normal."
The List: From Oklahoma to the Final Four
Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Cougars beat Tennessee on Sunday to reach the Final Four. This makes two Final Fours with Houston, for Sampson, who also coached OU to the Final Four in 2002. Here are the five coaches who have made a Final Four (with one technicality) after leaving a head-coaching job in Oklahoma.
1. Nolan Richardson: Arkansas hired away Richardson from TU in 1985, and he took the Razorbacks to three Final Fours and the 1994 NCAA title.
2. Tubby Smith: Smith jumped from TU to Georgia to Kentucky, where in 1998 his Wildcats won the NCAA championship.
3. Bill Self: Self jumped from Oral Roberts to Tulsa to Illinois to Kansas. He’s taken the Jayhawks to four Final Fours.
4. Kelvin Sampson: Sampson jumped to Indiana from OU in 2006, then was out of college coaching for awhile before taking the Houston job in 2014. His Cougars previously made the Final Four in 2021.
5. John MacLeod: OK, OK. MacLeod did not make the college Final Four. But he left OU in 1973 for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, and MacLeod coached the Suns to the 1976 NBA Finals.
Mailbag: New OU arena
Any talk of the proposed new OU arena in north Norman continues to draw interest.
MS: “There is plenty of land surrounding the LNC on which to build a new arena and "OU Live" entertainment complex that would benefit multiple sports (softball, baseball, soccer, tennis, etc.), without enriching a few well- connected real estate developers at taxpayer expense.”
Berry: I’m soured on the arena deal myself, but lack of an entertainment district is not the problem at Lloyd Noble Center. The entertainment complex plan has legs because of the combination of other amenities in north Norman, and the geographic proximity to Oklahoma City, combined with the new arena. If OU stays at Lloyd Noble, don’t expect any entertainment complex.
berry.tramel@tulsaworld.com
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