Whilst it great to be drafted, at the end of the day, is that huge a deal?
Paul Rogers, CJ Bruton, Ben Pepper and Brad Newley were drafted.
Matthew Dellavedova, Joe Ingles and Aron Baynes were not drafted.
After watching Baynes, Delly, Ingles, Mills etc play when they were teenagers and watching a lot of tape of Giddey, I honestly believe that Giddey is as talented as those above guys.
I will put Luke Travers in that mix too. Similar to Ingles but plays much faster, has better vision and perhaps has a better IQ (I'm talking about comparing the two at the same age).
King will make it too.
This is what Jonathan Givony had to say about Giddey:
Josh Giddey | 6-8 playmaker | NBA Global Academy (Australia)
The 6-foot-8 Giddey showed both sides of the coin in Chicago, impressing NBA scouts with his feel and creativity while also confirming lingering questions about his physical profile and upside.
Giddey is a unique prospect who plays an against-the-grain style and gets by on smarts and skill as a jumbo playmaker who excels in pick-and-roll. He plays at his own pace, whips the ball around the floor off the dribble with either hand, is extremely instinctual attacking closeouts to keep the defense moving, and can finish with touch shots in the paint. Giddey's instincts also transfer to the defensive end, where he does a nice job of anticipating his opponent's first move, even if his lack of length, strength and his upright nature limit him against elite prospects.
While he'll likely always face questions about whom he defends given his hunched 190-pound frame and 6-foot-8 wingspan, Giddey also has some trouble beating more athletic defenders off the bounce and finishing against length. He struggles a bit when aggressive wings take away his airspace and force him into traffic.
Giddey's decision to likely stay in the Australian National Basketball League next season makes sense, as not every high-major NCAA program would have seen him as a big playmaker. But he certainly has the ambidexterity, vision and creativity to make it in today's NBA. -- Givony