The NBA regular season is done and dusted, so it's time to reflect and review.
Our focus is on the 12 combined Australians -- and one Kiwi -- who provided a range of impact and productivity over the course of the regular season, and most of whom are bound for either play-in or playoff action.
Here, we grade how each player performed over their 2024-25 NBA campaign, in a story that will be progressively updated as each team's season comes to an end.
Josh Giddey -- Chicago Bulls
There were two different Josh Giddeys over the course of this season: pre All-Star break and post All-Star break. It's important to note both time periods; because he was just OK during one, but extraordinary in the other.
What we saw in the first stanza of the season was someone still acclimating to his new Chicago Bulls team, next to a high-usage player in Zach LaVine, where things weren't in place for him to completely play to his strengths; of course, it's still an important sample size and worth consideration when assessing Giddey's season as a whole.
What Giddey did after the All-Star break, though -- once LaVine was traded, with a significant portion of that usage shifting to the Australian -- was so impressive, and substantial, and historic, that it essentially completely overshadowed his so-so start to the season.
Over 19 games since the All-Star break, Giddey averaged 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 9.3 assists per game, while shooting 45.7% from downtown (4.3 3PA). Giddey's counting stats improved across the board, buoyed by improved finishing around the rim, notable progress with his three-point shooting, and getting to the foul line with more regularity.
Giddey had seven triple-doubles over his 2024-25 campaign -- he now has 18 in his career -- and was just one of three players this NBA season to record 1000 points, 500 rebounds, and 500 assists, joining Nikola Jokic and LeBron James. There was a 15-point, 10-rebound, 17-assist, 8-steal game over the Los Angeles Lakers -- a stat line that's never been done before in league history -- and probably the play of the season: a half-court, buzzer-beating game-winner, also over the Lakers. The Melbourne-native's three-point shooting took another step forward, finishing the season 37.8% from downtown -- on a career-high 4.0 attempts a game -- with that number rising with each season he's been in the league.
There's a frame of thought that games in March and April don't matter; that the level of play diminishes so much that there's no point putting stock into individual performances over that period. The counter to that, in this instance, is that the Bulls played in a considerable number of games against teams still fighting for playoff position -- as were they -- so the quality of basketball was at a good enough level that it's worth treating Giddey's minutes and production as meaningful. It was enough to help guide the Bulls to a play-in game, where they would ultimately fall to the Miami Heat.
What it demonstrated is that, at least over that sample size, Giddey has the capacity to be the lead guard on a team that can win games consistently, all while being a 22-year-old who's not close to a finished product. That's extremely notable as Giddey enters restricted free agency, as he seeks a multiyear contract that's as close to the $US30 million-a-year mark as possible.
What started as a prove-it, contract year that was just OK, finished with a stretch of basketball that's not only among the best we've ever seen from an Australian in the NBA, but you'd be hard-pressed to find more than a handful of players who were as impressive over the last two months of this season than Giddey.
Grade: A-
Josh Green -- Charlotte Hornets
The best word to describe Green's first season in Charlotte is: unfulfilling.
Green was traded to the Hornets from the Dallas Mavericks in the off-season, and the hope was that playing for a team with no pressure -- or capacity -- to win would mean the wing got an opportunity to expand his game. Playing next to Luka Doncic in Dallas meant Green had to fit into a very narrow, complementary role to provide value, so the move was maybe a chance for us to see him tap into different elements of his ceiling.
It wasn't to be. LaMelo Ball's usage, like Doncic', was sky high. When it wasn't Ball, it was Brandon Miller, or Miles Bridges dominating the ball. So, Green was largely sent to the corners for the majority of games, continuing to play that limited three-and-D role he's been really effective at since entering the league. On the bright side, while the hopes of more opportunity died (he had a career-low 11.8% usage), Green was actually reasonably effective in what he was asked to do; he averaged 7.4 points per game, while shooting an impressive 39.1% from downtown (on 3.6 attempts a game). This was Green's third straight season shooting above 38.5%, and he was particularly effective from the corners.
Green started 67 of his 68 games played, so his impact as a 'veteran' (he's still just 24 years of age) three-and-D presence was valued by head coach Charles Lee; a low-maintenance wing coming off an NBA Finals appearance is the ideal player to put on the floor with your budding-but-unproven young stars when you know there won't be a lot of winning. There's just a sense Green still has obvious untapped potential, and the hope of him unlocking that this season dwindled with each game; and, of course, it was quite dispiriting watching someone accept and be solid in a high-minutes, low-usage role on a losing team.
The Sydney-native's season was respectable, but unfulfilling.
Grade: B-
Matisse Thybulle -- Portland Trail Blazers
Thybulle put together a very solid sixth career NBA season; unfortunately, it started in the middle of March. The defensive specialist entered the season still recovering from minor knee surgery, and then suffered a severe ankle sprain as he was working his way back to full health, meaning we only got to see him play 15 games for the Trail Blazers.
Because of that, it's tough to give a full-blown, comprehensive review of Thybulle's season, but the small sample size we did see from him was quite impressive. The 28-year-old immediately made an impact for a Trail Blazers team that wasn't good enough to make the playoffs, but still better than expected.
Over the team's last 15 games -- the only ones Thybulle played in -- the Trail Blazers were 8-7, with the Australian averaging 7.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 43.8% from downtown. Thybulle was almost exactly the player we expected him to be on this team, with a boost in efficiency because of the sample size; a reliable-enough three-point shooter with a unique defensive prowess, the latter of which didn't lose a beat despite his time off.
Thybulle has a $US11,550,000 player option that he's almost certain to pick up, though he then becomes an expiring contract with a complementary skillset that could help a contender, so his contract becomes imminently tradeable -- and valuable -- once he locks in his 2025-26 season.
Grade: B+
Duop Reath -- Portland Trail Blazers
This was always going to be a difficult season for Duop Reath to show much worth. He's basically exclusively an NBA five-man, playing behind a clear-cut starter in Deandre Ayton, on a Trail Blazers team that also just drafted a centre with the seventh overall pick in Donovan Clingan.
That meant the start of the season was always going to be a grind. Through to the end of March, Reath only hit double-figure minutes four times, and never got out of single-digit scoring for that entire period. Come the beginning of March -- where most teams' playoff hopes are generally known, with the Trail Blazers no longer realistically in the picture -- Reath's minutes shot up.
Over March and April, Reath averaged 7.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, with the Sudanese-Australian making the most of Ayton's season-ending injury, albeit in contests that didn't mean too much for Chauncey Billups' team.
Whether the big-man is in the Trail Blazers' long-term view is hard to determine at this point. The $US2,221,677 he's owed for the 2025-26 season is fully non-guaranteed, so the decision the team makes on that money will tell us everything.
For Reath, he showed in his sporadic minutes that he can be relied on to stretch the floor as a big, and demonstrated enough rebounding chops. His awkward minutes weren't kind to his shooting splits, but the free throw numbers and his career to date shouldn't give teams too much pause in that regard. Despite the inconsistent opportunity this season, given the skillset and what he's produced over his sample size, the 28-year-old has probably demonstrated enough for an NBA team -- whether that's the Trail Blazers or otherwise -- to take another shot on him.
Grade: C+
Season still alive
Joe Ingles -- Minnesota Timberwolves
Danté Exum -- Dallas Mavericks
Dyson Daniels -- Atlanta Hawks
Jock Landale -- Houston Rockets
Ben Simmons -- Los Angeles Clippers
Patty Mills -- Los Angeles Clippers
Steven Adams -- Houston Rockets
Johnny Furphy -- Indiana Pacers
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