Trending
At 22, Giddey – now the face of the Australian Boomers – is seeking a substantial payday, and was buoyed by the manner in which he ended his first season with the Bulls, and fourth overall in the league.
He was traded by the Oklahoma City Thunder to the franchise made famous by Michael Jordan ahead of the 2024-25 season in exchange for defensive guard Alex Caruso. The latter was an important piece in the Thunder’s NBA championship.
Josh Giddey’s game-winner over LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers last season.Credit: NBA
Giddey had an indifferent start with the Bulls, but coach Billy Donovan turned the team over to him after the All-Star break, and Giddey thrived, averaging 21 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists while shooting 45.7 per cent from three-point range through until the end of the season. This included a stunning half-court buzzer beater over LeBron James to beat the Los Angeles Lakers in Chicago in what was one of the wildest finishes last season. Giddey finished with 25 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists.
In an earlier game on the road against the Lakers, Giddey had a near quadruple-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds, 17 assists, and eight steals, reinforcing his all round value.
The middling Bulls, however, were eliminated in the play-in tournament game ahead of the play-offs.
Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf is notoriously stingy when it comes to avoiding paying the NBA’s luxury tax, meaning Giddey faces a major fight to get what he wants.
As a restricted free agent, Giddey cannot sign outright with another team, but he could be part of a sign-and-trade deal. In that type of deal, Giddey would ink an extension with the Bulls and then be traded. But his new team would need to create salary cap space by trading a player back to the Bulls.
Loading
According to the Stein Line, Giddey has attracted interest from a handful of eastern conference teams, while Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors also have interest, although the Warriors have financial issues to address.
According to ESPN, the Warriors are about $25 million below the first tax apron. They could try and secure Giddey through a sign-and-trade deal by getting him to sign a $20 million-a-year deal with the Bulls, and then bump his salary up by the spare $5 million they have.
One suggestion raised in the US media has been a double sign-and-trade that would swap Giddey and the Warriors’ free agent small forward Jonathan Kuminga, but there remain hurdles.
Giddey also has the option of accepting the Bulls’ one-year qualifying final offer of $17 million, backing himself to have another strong season, and perhaps securing an even better deal come unrestricted free agency after the 2025-26 season.
As a restricted free agent, he has until October 1 to decide whether to accept the one-year offer.
“I think he knows what he is worth. They [the Bulls] know what he is worth. Other teams are starting to look around and say: ‘If you don’t want him, we’ll take him’. Golden State have mentioned something, Sacramento have mentioned something,” Copeland, now a prominent NBL commentator, said.
Giddey’s agent Daniel Moldovan and the Bulls were contacted for comment.
Loading
We are still only midway through the off-season, so there is plenty of time for a deal to be done. The Bulls say Giddey remains a key part of their future, and he will be paid well. Perhaps middle ground will be found, with Giddey signing for an overall deal worth $135 million. However, there are several restricted free agents still available, when typically there are two or three, highlighting how the new collective bargaining agreement is squeezing teams.
“I honestly don’t think the Bulls want to lose him. I think they’ll come to conclusion soon,” Copeland said.
“The Bulls, back in my day, had a reputation of winning championships. They haven’t done that in a very long time [the last title was with Jordan in 1997-98].
“I think the fans are looking forward to putting a better team on the floor, and Josh Giddey is an unselfish guy who can score, looks for everybody else who can knock down that shot, and he is young and athletic, and plays hard. You would be a fool to lose him.”
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
At 22, Giddey – now the face of the Australian Boomers – is seeking a substantial payday, and was buoyed by the manner in which he ended his first season with the Bulls, and fourth overall in the league.
He was traded by the Oklahoma City Thunder to the franchise made famous by Michael Jordan ahead of the 2024-25 season in exchange for defensive guard Alex Caruso. The latter was an important piece in the Thunder’s NBA championship.
Josh Giddey’s game-winner over LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers last season.Credit: NBA
Giddey had an indifferent start with the Bulls, but coach Billy Donovan turned the team over to him after the All-Star break, and Giddey thrived, averaging 21 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists while shooting 45.7 per cent from three-point range through until the end of the season. This included a stunning half-court buzzer beater over LeBron James to beat the Los Angeles Lakers in Chicago in what was one of the wildest finishes last season. Giddey finished with 25 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists.
In an earlier game on the road against the Lakers, Giddey had a near quadruple-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds, 17 assists, and eight steals, reinforcing his all round value.
The middling Bulls, however, were eliminated in the play-in tournament game ahead of the play-offs.
Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf is notoriously stingy when it comes to avoiding paying the NBA’s luxury tax, meaning Giddey faces a major fight to get what he wants.
As a restricted free agent, Giddey cannot sign outright with another team, but he could be part of a sign-and-trade deal. In that type of deal, Giddey would ink an extension with the Bulls and then be traded. But his new team would need to create salary cap space by trading a player back to the Bulls.
Loading
According to the Stein Line, Giddey has attracted interest from a handful of eastern conference teams, while Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors also have interest, although the Warriors have financial issues to address.
According to ESPN, the Warriors are about $25 million below the first tax apron. They could try and secure Giddey through a sign-and-trade deal by getting him to sign a $20 million-a-year deal with the Bulls, and then bump his salary up by the spare $5 million they have.
One suggestion raised in the US media has been a double sign-and-trade that would swap Giddey and the Warriors’ free agent small forward Jonathan Kuminga, but there remain hurdles.
Giddey also has the option of accepting the Bulls’ one-year qualifying final offer of $17 million, backing himself to have another strong season, and perhaps securing an even better deal come unrestricted free agency after the 2025-26 season.
As a restricted free agent, he has until October 1 to decide whether to accept the one-year offer.
“I think he knows what he is worth. They [the Bulls] know what he is worth. Other teams are starting to look around and say: ‘If you don’t want him, we’ll take him’. Golden State have mentioned something, Sacramento have mentioned something,” Copeland, now a prominent NBL commentator, said.
Giddey’s agent Daniel Moldovan and the Bulls were contacted for comment.
Loading
We are still only midway through the off-season, so there is plenty of time for a deal to be done. The Bulls say Giddey remains a key part of their future, and he will be paid well. Perhaps middle ground will be found, with Giddey signing for an overall deal worth $135 million. However, there are several restricted free agents still available, when typically there are two or three, highlighting how the new collective bargaining agreement is squeezing teams.
“I honestly don’t think the Bulls want to lose him. I think they’ll come to conclusion soon,” Copeland said.
“The Bulls, back in my day, had a reputation of winning championships. They haven’t done that in a very long time [the last title was with Jordan in 1997-98].
“I think the fans are looking forward to putting a better team on the floor, and Josh Giddey is an unselfish guy who can score, looks for everybody else who can knock down that shot, and he is young and athletic, and plays hard. You would be a fool to lose him.”
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout. The point of using Lorem Ipsum is that it has a more-or-less normal distribution
The Us Media 2025
