Giddey is currently ninth in the line of betting at Sportsbet, ahead of already established superstars like Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Brunson and Steph Curry. <\/p>\n
Sure, there may be some level of Australian bias there, so how about we look at FanDuel Sportsbook instead. <\/p>\n
There, Giddey is tied with Mitchell, Brunson and Curry but still the tied ninth-favourite for the NBA\u2019s top honour.<\/p>\n
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Granted, anyone betting on Giddey to win MVP is incredibly likely to be throwing away their money given Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looks as good a bet as many to go back-to-back given Oklahoma City\u2019s red-hot start to the year, while any of Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama and Giannis Antetokounmpo will still be there to challenge for the award. <\/p>\n
But the fact Giddey is being mentioned alongside names like Mitchell, Brunson and Curry speaks to the impact on winning he is having right now and if there is one award the Australian could take home this season it is Most Improved, with the 23-year-old guard the heavy betting favourite for the honour at the moment.<\/p>\n
Giddey\u2019s latest statement game<\/a>, which saw him become the first Chicago player to record back-to-back triple-doubles since the legendary Michael Jordan, has the NBA on notice. <\/p>\n McGee drops 37-PTS in Hawks upset | 01:21<\/p>\n Respected NBA commentator and former columnist Bill Simmons compared the Bulls\u2019 Giddey windfall to a high-profile trade of an era past. <\/p>\n \u201cThe players who have impressed me; knocked my socks off the most to date (this season) \u2026 Giddey has to be number one,\u201d he said on the renowned Bill Simmons Podcast on Friday AEDT. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m so proud. So few of us liked the Giddey-Caruso trade for Chicago \u2026 one of the better trades, almost like that Kawhi (Leonard)-George Hill trade (in 2011).\u201d<\/p>\n The six-foot-seven floor general is leading the Bulls, who\u2019ve exploded early in the season despite being without one of their best players in recent years; Coby White, who remains sidelined with a calf injury. <\/p>\n Simmons believes White is now a trade candidate due to Giddey\u2019s explosion and Chicago\u2019s overall productivity without the combo guard in the lineup. <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve been really fun to watch \u2026 what\u2019s interesting through all of it is they\u2019re 6-1, Giddey\u2019s been basically a triple-double this season, they\u2019re shooting the lights out, they have actual defence on the swing spots now \u2026 and the guy that hasn\u2019t played yet is Coby White, who is in the final year of a US$12 million deal,\u201d continued Simmons. <\/p>\n \u201cYou know who needs a point guard? \u2026 I would say Minnesota is leading the way (in terms of teams in need). <\/p>\n \u201cChicago has a big-ass trade exception that can make some funkiness with their trades in a good way. They\u2019re one of the few teams that, with these modern rules, they can get pretty creative.\u201d<\/p>\n Going back to Giddey, Simmons effectively said the Bulls were in the driver\u2019s seat with regards to trading, given the Aussie\u2019s impact early this season.<\/p>\n And Simmons\u2019 mind is made up on White, given the 25-year-old\u2019s expiring contract status and likely demand for a lucrative new deal. <\/p>\n \u201cIf I\u2019m Chicago, I\u2019m now in a \u2018car keys\u2019 situation. Like, I\u2019ve struck oil with Josh Giddey. This is not a sample size. This guy is dominating games,\u201d Simmons concluded. <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s getting where he wants on the court and creating what shot he wants. You\u2019ve got something really special happening here. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want Coby White \u2014 I\u2019m not paying him next year, I\u2019d rather put my chips into the Giddey basket, and I would try to trade him (White).\u201d<\/p>\n Suns come back to beat Clippers | 00:51<\/p>\n The Giddey-led Bulls have surged to a stunning 6-1 start to the season that now has them sitting ahead of Eastern Conference favourites New York and Cleveland in top spot. <\/p>\n Regardless of whether you buy into this new version of the Bulls or not, this confident, aggressive version of Josh Giddey looks like it is here to stay \u2014 and it has the entire basketball world talking. <\/p>\n In fact, Gilbert Arenas is going out on his own show declaring that he would take Giddey over $315 million Charlotte Hornets star guard LaMelo Ball if he was building a new team.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason you give me Giddey is I don\u2019t have to be a smart general manager,\u201d Arenas said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I have Giddey and I say, \u2018Alright, let me get Maxey\u2019. He\u2019s going to mesh with him. He knows how to play with a guy like that. If I say, \u2018Give me Garland\u2019, who is more of a point guard, he\u2019ll figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, you could argue back that Giddey isn\u2019t guaranteed to fit alongside any other NBA player in the backcourt. After all, it was the reason it didn\u2019t work in Oklahoma City with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. <\/p>\n But the fact this debate is even taking place speaks to just how rapidly Giddey\u2019s stock in the league is rising. <\/p>\n For what it\u2019s worth, and to offer a different perspective, Chandler Parsons said on FanDuel\u2019s \u2018Run It Back\u2019 that he still values Ball as a talent over Giddey.<\/p>\n \u201cLaMelo Ball is a franchise-type player, Josh Giddey isn\u2019t,\u201d Parsons said.<\/p>\n \u201cJosh Giddey is a very good point guard. He\u2019s having a very good year. He\u2019s not that talented, highly-touted guy that LaMelo Ball is.\u201d<\/p>\n But Parsons did concede that Giddey is the \u201cbetter point guard right now\u201d. If the debate was just on sheer talent alone though? <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not even close,\u201d Parsons said. <\/p>\n \u201cLaMelo Ball has so much more talent than him. But if you look at production at the beginning of this season and what you can do for a certain team, I get his point that I would take Josh Giddey at the starting point guard position.\u201d<\/p>\n Giddey triple double inspires Bulls | 00:51<\/p>\n While most people agreed that the four-year, $100 million ($A154m) contract Giddey signed in the offseason was a fine deal considering the 23-year-old\u2019s talent and age, there were some concerns with how Chicago could build around a more limited guard like Giddey. <\/p>\n Limited in the sense that there were still major question marks over both Giddey\u2019s shooting and defence from his time in Oklahoma City and the early stages of his Bulls tenure.<\/p>\n Those are never going to be the biggest strengths of Giddey\u2019s game but based on early returns this season, they don\u2019t look like they will be glaring weaknesses either. <\/p>\n In fact, Bulls icon and broadcast analyst Stacey King went as far as to claim Giddey \u201chas a chance to be arguably the best point guard in the league\u201d.<\/p>\n His former teammate at Oklahoma City probably has something to say about that, but it is hard to argue with everything else King said about Giddey on the \u2018Gimme The Hot Sauce Podcast\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s the real deal,\u201d King said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s got a chance to be a multiple-time All-Star. He\u2019s got a chance to be arguably the best point guard in the league. <\/p>\n \u201cHis defence has gotten better, that\u2019s been one of the knocks. Three-point shooting when he came in was one of the knocks, he\u2019s not a good three-point shooter. He can\u2019t guard anybody.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, he\u2019s doing all those things now. He\u2019s shooting close to 45 per cent from the three-point line. He\u2019s going out and guarding people. He\u2019s rebounding the basketball like a power forward, which takes pressure off Vooch and all these other guys… and he has a great feel for the game.\u201d<\/p>\n Bulls win off Giddey’s insane assist! | 00:33<\/p>\n