Josh Giddey posted a farewell message to the OKC Thunder on Instagram on Friday.

The 21-year-old guard was traded from OKC to Chicago in exchange for Alex Caruso on Thursday. The one-for-one player deal didn't include any draft picks.

"OKC, thank you for everything," Giddey said in his post. "To the city for embracing me from Day 1. To Mr. (Clay) Bennett, Sam (Presti) and Mark (Daigneault) for giving me the opportunity to fulfill my dream of my being an NBA player, I am forever grateful. My brothers, who I got to share the floor with for 3 years. The best group of guys I could’ve imagined. Stuck with me through the very high highs and the very low lows.

"You guys know the real me. I am forever in debt to Oklahoma, and no words will do justice to how much the city and the organization mean to me and my family."

More: Why Thunder-Bulls trade makes sense for Josh Giddey, Chicago — with one big caveat

OKC selected Giddey with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.

The 6-foot-8 guard averaged 12.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists this past season. But he struggled to stay on the floor during OKC's playoff run to the Western Conference semifinals, and he ultimately got benched for the first time in his career.

Giddey now joins a Chicago team that went 39-43 this past season and got eliminated in the play-in tournament for the second straight campaign. He'll get to take on a larger role as a primary ball handler, which he wasn't able to do in OKC alongside MVP runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

"I think Josh is going to be an elite player," OKC general manager Sam Presti said on Friday. "I have a lot of confidence in that. But I don't know that that was going to be possible within the construct of the team that we have and the ambitions that he has. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, and we talked about that quite openly. ... Ultimately, I think his dream and vision is to lead a team."

More: What OKC Thunder GM Sam Presti said about trading Josh Giddey to Bulls for Alex Caruso

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Josh Giddey bids farewell to Thunder after getting traded to Bulls