Josh Giddey has shined in March. Has the Australian star finally hit his stride?

As the season winds to a close it seems many teams and players are aware of their situation. Some teams are resigned to their fate of missing the playoffs and are hoping for a good pick in the lottery. Some have or will soon have clinched their playoff spot for this year, and some are still fighting for the right to make the playoffs via the play in tournament. All players seem to understand their current situation, all except the Chicago Bulls' very own Josh Giddey.

During March Josh Giddey exploded for a near quadruple double, multiple triple doubles and a myriad of other dazzling performances. His most iconic being when he brought Chicago another win via an insane half court buzzer beater to put away the Los Angeles Lakers by two points, this shot coming over Lebron James no less.

On the Bulls home floor in the fourth quarter, 6.1 seconds remained. Lakers coach JJ Reddick drew up a sideline inbound play for Austin Reaves to score an easy layup, leaving the Bulls with no timeouts, 3.3 seconds to play and the score in the favour of the Lakers 117-116.

Giddey would take the initiative in the moment, displaying a controlled sense of urgency. As the Lakers celebrated and organised their defense, he inbounded the ball, received it back straight and proceeded to launch a hail mary shot from beyond halfcourt just over the fingertips of Lebron James, nailing it and sending his teammates and the Chicago fans into a frenzy.

Josh Giddey's halfcourt prayer over Lebron James

This shot came following an unlikely comeback, making it all the sweeter. Giddey air-balled a 15-foot floater with 10 seconds remaining, the Bulls down by five 115-110 — a situation where many teams cannot recover was afoot.

However, Giddey’s teammate Patrick Williams would hit a three pointer and then Giddey would steal James’s immediate inbound pass, the ball would make its way to Coby White who hit another three pointer bringing the bulls a six-point swing in about five seconds.

Giddey called his first buzzer beater game winner a “special moment”.

This game would not be the only heroic performance for Giddey in March however. With his role being increased after his trade from the stacked Oklahoma City Thunder to the floundering Bulls, he has been allowed to flourish with the ball being in his hands where he seems to be at his most effective.

On 23 March, Giddey was subbed out of a road game in Los Angeles against the Lakers with Lebron James and Luka Doncic, his coach Billy Donovan electing to sit him out for the rest of the fourth quarter. His final stat line? 15 points, 10 rebounds, 17 assists and eight steals, a near quadruple double.

Giddey (left) and Daniels (right)

Whilst his fellow Australian NBA player Dyson Daniels has been dubbed “The Great Barrier Thief” due to his defensive prowess, especially his ability to gather up steals like its nothing, Josh Giddey decided to do his best impersonation of his teen-hood friend by using his eight steals to lead countless fastbreaks and create easy points for his teammates, providing explanation for his 17 assists.

The bulls would handily defeat the Lakers on the night 146-115 with Giddey’s elite play seemingly rubbing off on his entire team as the Bulls shot an uncommon 58.3 per cent from the field for the entire game and shared the ball enough to the tune of 41 assists which would effectively negate the Lakers recently improved but currently faltering defense which focuses heavily on switching whenever possible and uses a small ball lineup taking advantage of their wing defenders size.

Against a team with athletic lanky wings such as Giddey and his rookie teammate Matas Buzelis who poured in 31 points of his own thanks to Giddey’s playmaking, the mismatches created by this tactic proved too much for the Lakers defense to handle and they would be sent home without a victory, continuing their decline through the standings in their latest turbulent week.

Giddey was asked about the game by reporter NBC Sport’s Chicago reporter K. C. Johnson where he noted that after comments about his defense had been prevalent in the recent weeks, and in fact for his entire career.

He was excited to be given the assignment of guarding Luka Doncic for the evening stating, “I was like, ‘Gee I’ve never really had an assignment like that before in the NBA’ and it's something I’ve always wanted.” It seems Josh’s excitement was justified as this game was likely the best in his young prospering career.

When reviewing Giddey’s recent performances, his impact on his teammates is most notable, as Giddey fills the stat sheet and contributes to a smooth flowing, high energy offense. his teammates tend to perform better.

In the month of March, while averaging 20.3 points per game, 9.6 rebounds and 9 assists, Giddey’s teammates Coby White and Matas Buzelis would also up their personal scoring numbers. Coby jumped from 20.3 points per game over the season to 27.7 in March, and Matas Buzelis the rookie jumped from 8.1 to 13.7, a massive increase for both players.

This noticeable boost in production for both players can be attributed to an overall improvement in team play, but with Giddey being a key ball handler and distributer for the Bulls, it is important to consider his vital impact in providing his teammates with scoring opportunities.

What could this jump in performance mean for Giddey as a whole? Sources such as AthlonSports and The Advertiser have claimed that Josh Giddey will be zeroing in on a contract extension with the Bulls this offseason, who will be paying him somewhere in the realm of an eyepopping 30 million dollars per season.

It seems that since the Bulls have moved on from previous core pieces Demar Derozan and Zach Lavine, they are ushering in a rebuilding period where they plan to secure Giddey as a core piece of a potential future championship contender, while he develops alongside White and Buzelis.

As Australians cheer for Josh from their couches at home, we can only hope he continues to take these advanced strides in his game. With the Olympics to return to Australia in 2032, the Boomers will be hunting a gold medal with him at the helm, and with his recent performances in the NBA, that dream doesn’t seem too far out of reach.