The Bulls made guard Josh Giddey a four-year contract offer worth $80MM when free agency began on June 30, league sources tell Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).
Multiple reports dating back to last October have indicated that Giddey’s asking price is in the range of $30MM per year, so Chicago’s offer fell well short of that benchmark.
While the two sides have had nearly a month-and-a-half since free agency opened to try to bridge the gap, the Bulls have been “anchored” in the neighborhood of $20MM annually since making that initial offer, Fischer writes.
As a restricted free agent, Giddey can’t sign outright with another team, but he has drawn sign-and-trade interest from a handful of Eastern Conference teams, according to Fischer, who reiterates that the Warriors also have genuine interest in the 22-year-old, as he previously reported.
However, Fischer acknowledges that there doesn’t appear to be a “feasible pathway” to a trade that gets Giddey to Golden State, and the other teams with interest in the former sixth overall pick also haven’t made any headway. The Bulls have “messaged for some time” that they’re not looking to seriously engage in sign-and-trade discussions about Giddey, says Fischer.
Giddey got off to a slow start in his first season as a Bull after being acquired from Oklahoma City in exchange for Alex Caruso, but finished strong, particularly after the team traded Zach LaVine to Sacramento. Between the start of February and the end of the regular season, Giddey averaged 20.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 8.1 assists per game with a shooting line of .491/.451/.801 across 25 outings.
As we noted last week when we outlined the key dates and deadlines for restricted free agents, there are no deadlines on tap in August or September. RFAs have until October 1 to decide whether or not to accept their one-year qualifying offers (Giddey’s is worth $11.1MM), though that deadline can be pushed back if the team and player work out an agreement.
While it’s rare for so many top restricted free agents to remain unsigned this late in the offseason, it’s not uncommon for one or two RFA standoffs to extend well into the summer. A year ago, Isaac Okoro eventually re-signed with the Cavaliers on September 17; two years ago, P.J. Washington re-signed with the Hornets on August 29; three years ago, Collin Sexton and Jordan Nwora didn’t resolve their restricted free agencies until September.
Meet in the middle and get it over with. 4 years 100mil seems more than fair for a guy who has the potential to average a triple double.
*reasonable* I should say, from the bulls perspective.
A guy who can run the offense and average a triple-double can ask for a max.
They could be a Trae Young suitor, they have 53M on the books for next year. They can easily offer a max contract to Trae Young and still go after someone else.
Wow, got to be honest, I had no clue that the Bulls were shedding so much salary at the end of this season. I imagine that they’ll re-sign Coby, but they have Bird so they can make other moves first.
Of course, Bulls management will screw it up, so…
Get this kid locked up
White is going to want $40M a year next off season
if you arent going to pay White you better pay Giddey
White is no $40 million player
NO, but reports are thats what he will seek this offseason
Indeed, White is a heck of a player too and his hair is his brand 😂
Unless he has his greatest year and an all star his best hope would be over $25 million a year.
Trade Patrick Williams, Okoro and Jalen Smith for an expiring contracts. (Patrick Williams contract is horrible right now)
Keep Noah, Matas, Ayo and Phillips while trading everyone else for picks.
Giddy and White are extremely overrated. Trade them for picks.
Collect contracts with picks then dumping the contracts.
Tank and build through the draft
This team is in horrible shape
They need a young PG, SG and C prospects in the draft
Or build up what they have now in players Giddys age. Trade their picks for players they want.
They need Williams to have a big first half to get his value up for anyone to want to trade for him. Smith they should keep since his contract is not bad and only for next year.