He’s been struggling and hasn’t shown tons of improvement as clearly the worst starter thus far. This opens up more shots for Chet/Jalen and solidifies the core trio of SGA/Chet/Jalen. It also gives Cason more opportunities and improves the spacing. I think the offensive fit and defense is better.
His playmaking and size might be missed, a bit, but at the end of the day you don’t want the ball in his hands and there are better defenders which often made him a liability off-ball. He would have been better transitioning to 6th man anyways, this just makes that easier and quicker.
I think the opposite.
OKC’s position in the standings looks better than it should. Due to the luck of the draw, OKC have played a lot of bad teams, and played several teams with an injured roster.
But over the next few games, OKC will play stronger teams. The next six games are: 76ers, T-wolves, Lakers, Mavericks, Jazz, Kings. Statistically, they’re far more likely to lose a few and drop down the ladder a bit. We’re going to see commentators who will attribute that to Giddey not playing, but I doubt the team would be much better had he been available.