LOS ANGELES — There wasn’t much on the list that Josh Giddey was going to dispute.
Maybe because he couldn’t dispute it.
Not that accountability has even been an issue since the point guard joined the Bulls last offseason.
But when informed Wednesday after the off-day practice at USC that coach Billy Donovan actually listed what Giddey needed to do in order to stay in the closing unit of close games, of course Giddey was all ears.
Play better defense.
“Yes,” Giddey said without hesitation.
Take care of the ball.
“Yep,” he said.
Creating shots for others, which Donovan remarked was stellar in the Monday victory against the Clippers.
“Yeah, no doubt.”
Nothing he disagreed with and not one he thought was unfair. The goal for Giddey now? Make that list go away.
“Yeah, it’s important to every player to be out there, be in at that point of the game,” Giddey said. “I’ve got to find ways to make them make that decision. I feel like I’ve got to keep competing on the defensive side of the ball, and that would turn the conversation to, ‘Who do you want to go with down the stretch, who do you want to go with in this position?’ Competing defensively probably allowed me to be out there longer in those parts of the games, so everyone wants to be out there. I do. I want those minutes and it’s something I’m working through the last couple of weeks.”
That’s also why Giddey came out of the Clippers game feeling good about the performance. He checked a lot of those boxes and was rewarded with being on the floor at the end.
Far too often among the starters, Giddey has been the odd-man out — along with Patrick Williams at times — when it has come down to crunch time of a close game. An experience he never went through playing in Australia and didn’t experience much in Oklahoma City until last season’s playoff run.
That’s why hearing encouraging words from Donovan on the matter carried weight.
“He’s probably working towards that,” Donovan said, when asked if Giddey could see more time in the closing unit. “He’s given me a lot of confidence. The defense has ticked up, it’s gotten better there. And he’s gotten better at making the guys on the court better in terms of generating open looks for them.”
Donovan did warn that matchups still -carried some weight in the decision process, but again, Giddey can help his cause by continuing to show he’s not a matchup problem that teams are looking to take advantage of.
Then there’s the bigger picture for Giddey in all of this. While the Bulls are clouded in trade rumors and no one is really safe, Giddey likely is staying put and in their plans. But at what price? He has the rest of the season to try to help set a better market for himself.
Giddey is a restricted free agent, so the Bulls can match any offer if they do allow him to test the market, but he would love nothing more than to make their minds up for them before it reaches that point.
“I’m very happy here,” Giddey said. “I love the players, the coaches, everyone has been great here. I’d be lying if I said I never think about it. Every player in the country thinks about it, but you can’t let it impact the way you play. It’s a business.
“The contract will be taken care of at the end of the year, whatever it is, how long it is, where it is? It’s kind of out of my hands by then, so just play the season and do my best.”
Being a closer is a good way to start.