The Chicago Bulls’ front office continues to negotiate on terms of a possible new deal with restricted free agent point guard Josh Giddey.
During his first season with Chicago last year, the 6-foot-8 guard averaged 14.6 points while slashing .465/.378/.781, along with 8.1 boards, 7.2 dimes, 1.2 swipes and 0.6 blocks a night. Questions about his defense and long range sniping abound, and make him a difficult player to project in the future — but the oversized guard certainly has talent to spare.
According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report and The Stein Line, Giddey’s representatives and the Bulls could be as much as $10 million apart in their preferred yearly salaries.
“We’re almost in August, but there’s really no rush on any of these teams or players’ side of things if you’re not moving these conversations closer to where you want to be,” Fischer said. “The last we reported on The Stein Line was that Josh Giddey’s side was still more anchored around $30 million AAV [average annual value], and Chicago was more anchored around [$20 million].”
Giddey is just one of many talented victims of restricted free agency this summer. Philadelphia 76ers guard Quentin Grimes, Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, and Brooklyn Nets shooting guard Cam Thomas are all in the midst of apparently strained conversations regarding their futures.
With only Brooklyn having the requisite cap room to sign free agents, there are limited takers for these young pieces — although it sounds like Kuminga, at least, has something of a sign-and-trade market.
Fred Katz and Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic recently spoke with several rival front office executives about the Bulls’ options.
Four- and five-year contracts are becoming increasingly rare. But can Josh Giddey buck the trend?
I polled 16 people from NBA front offices, asking them what they would deem a fair contract for Giddey. Results in here.
Story with @JoelXLorenzi: https://t.co/HMZHpJOsGY pic.twitter.com/0XufFqMfZT
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) July 28, 2025
“Giddey is the anomaly because he might be good enough to be a four-year player,” said an executive who thinks Giddey could be worth a four-season, $100 million deal. “Nobody wants to go with long-term contracts because everybody wants this idea of flexibility. You wanna have the ability to (say), ‘You know what? My team’s not very good. Let’s pivot.’”
Others suggested Giddey might be better suited to a three-year agreement, in the range of $54 million to $75 million.
That said, three additional executives suggested that the 22-year-old was worth a five-year deal, from anywhere between $112.5 million and $125 million.
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