Bulls Rumors

Bulls Notes: Giddey, White, Jones, Williams

October 2nd, 2025 at 5:31pm CST by Rory Maher

While the negotiations dragged into September, Josh Giddey confirmed this week that his contract talks with the Bulls were never contentious, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. The Australian guard re-signed with the Bulls on a four-year, $100MM deal as a restricted free agent.

“When you hit free agency — I was a restricted [free agent] — rumors will start to circulate, and I let my management and agent handle that side of things with the front office here,” Giddey said. “So I tried to stay out of it. When there was something to know, I knew. My agent would tell me. Other than that, there were never any bad feelings. It’s a negotiation, and that’s how it goes. It’s kind of the nature of the business.

“When the season ended, I knew that was going to happen. . . . This is where I always wanted to be, and now I’m locked in for another four years.”

According to Cowley, Giddey said he’s relieved he won’t have to think about a new deal for multiple years.

“Everyone wants to play for that second contract; it’s part of being an NBA player,” Giddey said. “You want to extend your career. I was no different. The fact that it’s locked in and I have four years where I don’t have to think about it is a pretty big weight off my shoulders because it was always kind of lingering.”

Here’s more from Chicago:

Due to the limitations of what they can offer, Coby White has reportedly informed the Bulls he isn’t going to sign an extension before he hits unrestricted free agency next summer. The 25-year-old guard said he’s focused on the present rather than the future, as Cowley relays. “I’m thinking about now and how I can help my team win and become better in every aspect of the game,” White said. “I’m blessed and fortunate to be in this situation, but I always say that I love being here, I love the front office, I love the relationship that I built with Coach (Billy Donovan), and me and my teammates are super close, so I’m enjoying every moment.”
Backup point guard Tre Jones was determined to return to the Bulls instead of exploring external options in free agency, per Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic (Twitter video link). “I definitely wanted to be back. I didn’t wanna think about going anywhere else,” said Jones, who re-signed with Chicago on a three-year, $24MM contract.
Sixth-year forward Patrick Williams lost weight and added lean muscle over the summer in an effort to improve his game, tweets K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network. Williams wasn’t wasn’t pleased with his performance in ’24/25. “I need to be better,” he said of his offseason approach.

Bulls Notes: Buzelis, White, Dosunmu, Jones, Expectations, Giddey

September 30th, 2025 at 9:32pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Bulls forward Matas Buzelis averaged 8.6 points and 3.5 rebounds in 18.9 minutes per game while appearing in 80 contests as a rookie. He’s aiming for a major award this season, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times.

“I want to win Most Improved Player this year,” Buzelis said. “That’s what I’m striving for. This is a team sport, and everything is about the team. The individual stuff will come if you win, so I’m worried about winning.”

Here’s more on the Bulls:

Coby White‘s ability to play by the season opener is somewhat in doubt. Bulls executive VP Arturas Karnisovas indicated that White will be limited in camp by a calf strain he suffered in August, K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network tweets. “Hopefully, we can see him by end of preseason,” he said.
Ayo Dosunmu and Tre Jones are “back from injury and ready to play,” according to Karnisovas (Twitter link via Johnson). Dosunmu underwent shoulder surgery in March. Jones dealt with a left foot sprain late last season.
Isaac Okoro, acquired in the Lonzo Ball deal, was mainly used as a defensive stopper with Cleveland. He’ll look to do the same with his new team, according to Cowley. “At the end of the day, you look at every team in the NBA there are guys on winning teams that have to sacrifice,” Okoro said. “Everyone in this league wants to score 20, they probably can score 20. They’re coming from being the best player on their high school team, college team, but people have to make sacrifices. In Cleveland I played my role of guarding the best player on the other team, being the hustle guy, and I don’t mind that. At the end of the day I want to win, so if that’s sacrificing that’s the role that I will play.”
Karnisovas considers player development, rather than wins, as the primary goal in Chicago this season, Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune writes. “This is the way we have to do it,” Karnišovas said. “We have to be patient. We have to do it the right way. We can’t skip steps. For this team next year, we’ve got to show growth.”
It took a while but restricted free agent Josh Giddey signed a four-year contract this month as a restricted free agent. He never believed he’d wind up elsewhere, according to Poe. “I never had any worries I wasn’t going to be here,” Giddey said. “This was where I wanted to be. They embraced me from day one when I first got here — teammates, front office, fans — and it felt like home really quickly. Right from the jump, I made sure my agent knew this is where I wanted to be. I want to be here long term.”

RJ Nembhard Signed-And-Waived By Bulls

September 30th, 2025 at 8:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Guard RJ Nembhard has been signed and waived by the Bulls, Spotrac contributor Keith Smith tweets.

The Exhibit 10 signing sets up Nembhard to join the G League’s Windy City Bulls. He can earn a bonus up to $85,300 if he reports to Windy City and remains on their roster for at least 60 days.

Chicago’s NBAGL affiliate acquired his returning rights in a trade on Monday (Twitter link).

Nembhard played 33 regular season games with the Capital City Go-Go last season, averaging 17.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists for the Wizards’ affiliate. He then headed to China, signing with the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the Chinese Basketball Association for the rest of the 2024/25 season.

Nembhard has 14 games of NBA experience, mostly while playing on a two-way deal with Cleveland, and totaled 15 points and 12 assists in those games during the 2021/22 season.

New York Notes: Brown, Shamet, Clowney, MPJ, Muoka

September 29th, 2025 at 9:37pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

New Knicks head coach Mike Brown wants to empower his players to let loose from long range, writes Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News.

As Winfield notes, only one expected rotation player — center Mitchell Robinson — won’t be able to connect on at least an NBA-average three-point conversion rate, provided both Malcolm Brogdon and Landry Shamet are on the club’s standard roster come the regular season.

“I mean if we get 40 [threes] I’m cool with it,” Brown said following a team practice on Friday. “We’ve got a couple of guys that we’ll allow to dance with it and let it go, and they know who they are. But if we play like we’re capable of — with pace, especially spacing, and the paint touches — we should generate a lot of catch-and-shoot threes.”

There’s more out of New York:

During his media day session, Brown spoke positively about Landry Shamet‘s two-way upside. Shamet was rostered with the Knicks last year, but for now is signed to a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 training camp deal. “Offensively, his pace in the full court, he does a great job sprinting the floor, and he’ll sprint to the corner every single possession,” Brown said when asked about Shamet by Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter video link via New York Basketball). “And when you do that with the ability he has to shoot the ball from deep, it puts a lot of pressure on the defense, and also flattens the defense, because you gotta go with him. And if the defense gets flattened by a shooter, that means the driving lanes [expand].… And then defensively, he’s not afraid, he’ll stick his nose in it and guard whoever he has to guard.”
Nets big man Noah Clowney took the offseason to bulk up, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. The 6’9″ big man has packed on added muscle to improve his abilities as a driver, but is hoping not to sacrifice any of his explosiveness. “Yeah, [Clowney] looks great,” coach Jordi Fernández said of the change. “Credit to him and the work he’s put in the whole summer. He looks like a grown man at just 21… His ability to shoot, his size and getting better at playing off two feet in the paint, limiting turnovers and fishing better at the rim. So those things are important for him.”
After dealing with major health issues earlier in his career, new Nets wing Michael Porter Jr. admitted he can’t necessarily count on a lengthy stint in the NBA. “Because of the injuries and stuff, I don’t know how much longer I really want to play,” Porter told Justin Laboy on the Respectfully The Justin Laboy Podcast (YouTube video link; hat tip to Lewis for the transcription). “Like, I want to play as long as I can, but people don’t understand the things I’ve got to go through on a daily basis just to get out on the court and play with the best athletes in the world.” Porter had already undergone three back surgeries by the end of his first three pro seasons and has since dealt with lingering nerve damage even as other health issues pop up. He is owed $78MM across the next two seasons. “I decided all I’m going to do is take it a year at a time,” Porter said. “So I’m committed to basketball and putting my all into it for the next year and then after that, I’m gonna reevaluate.”
The Nets‘ NBAGL affiliate, the Long Island Nets, obtained center David Muoka‘s returning player rights from the Windy City Bulls, Lewis tweets. Long Island surrendered a 2025 G League first-round draft pick and a 2026 second to Windy City, Chicago’s G League affiliate. Muoka was signed and waived earlier this month by Brooklyn and is now on track to join Long Island for the NBAGL season.

NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Chicago Bulls

September 29th, 2025 at 7:33am CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2025 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Chicago Bulls.

Free agent signings

Josh Giddey: Four years, $100,000,000. Re-signed using Bird rights.
Tre Jones: Three years, $24,000,000. Third-year team option. Re-signed using Bird rights.
Caleb Grill: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Note: Grill has since been waived.
Mouhamadou Gueye: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
Wooga Poplar: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
- Note: Poplar has since been waived.

Trades

Acquired the draft rights to Lachlan Olbrich (No. 55 pick) in the 2025 draft and cash ($2.5MM) from the Lakers in exchange for the draft rights to Rocco Zikarsky (No. 45 pick).
Acquired Isaac Okoro from the Cavaliers in exchange for Lonzo Ball.

Draft picks

1-12: Noa Essengue
- Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $25,333,943).
2-55: Lachlan Olbrich
- Signed to two-way contract.

Two-way signings

Yuki Kawamura
- One year, $85,300 partial guarantee.
Emanuel Miller
- One year, $85,300 partial guarantee.
Lachlan Olbrich
- One year, $85,300 partial guarantee.

Departed/unsigned free agents

Talen Horton-Tucker (Fenerbahce)
E.J. Liddell (Nets)

Other roster moves

Waived Jahmir Young (two-way contract).

Salary cap situation

Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and below the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
Carrying approximately $174.3MM in salary.
Hard-capped at $195,945,000.
Full non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($14,104,000) available.
Full bi-annual exception ($5,134,000) available.
One traded player exception available (worth $6,186,573).

The offseason so far

The Bulls underwent some major roster changes during the 2024 offseason, when they sent Alex Caruso to Oklahoma City and signed-and-traded DeMar DeRozan to Sacramento, and at the 2025 trade deadline, when they completed a three-team blockbuster that send Zach LaVine to the Kings and returned veterans Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, and Zach Collins, along with complete control of the team’s 2025 first-round pick.

As a result of all that activity in the previous 12 months, the 2025 offseason was relatively quiet by comparison. With many of the club’s highest-paid players – Huerter, Collins, Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu, and Jevon Carter – on expiring contracts in 2025/26, Chicago could have been very active on the trade market, seeking new homes for those guys while potentially taking on some multiyear deals.

Instead, the Bulls hung onto all six of those players, and while they did add some multiyear money to their cap in free agency and on the trade market, the primary order of business this summer was keeping the current roster intact by re-signing their own free agents.

That effort began during the first few hours of free agency on June 30, when the Bulls struck a deal to re-sign Jones to a three-year, $24MM contract that includes a third-year team option. Bulls head coach Billy Donovan repeatedly lauded the veteran point guard during the final months of last season for his high basketball IQ and his knack for making winning plays, so it didn’t come as a huge surprise that the front office made it a priority to re-sign him at a price that makes sense for a backup point guard.

The Bulls’ other top free agent was also a point guard, but it took much longer for the club to reach an agreement with Josh Giddey, one of four restricted free agents whose standoffs extended well into September. Giddey reportedly came into the summer seeking a $30MM annual salary, while the Bulls initially wanted to do a deal in the neighborhood of $20MM per year. The two sides eventually compromised right in the middle — Giddey signed a four-year, $100MM contract that is fully guaranteed, with no incentives or options, and features a flat structure, with annual cap hits of $25MM.

While it’s a little more than the Bulls wanted to pay, it looks like a pretty good deal for the team. Among NBA starting point guards, Giddey’s $25MM annual salary is on the low end, and he should be entering his prime during the next four years, which will be his age 23-to-26 seasons. The former sixth overall pick hit his stride after Chicago traded LaVine in February, averaging 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds, 9.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game with a .500/.457/.809 shooting line after the All-Star break.

With Giddey and Jones back under contract, the Bulls were going to have a major logjam in the backcourt, with White, Dosunmu, and Lonzo Ball also expected to play rotation roles and Carter buried on the depth chart. Rather than bringing them all back, Chicago made an effort to balance its rotation a little by trading Ball straight up to the Cavaliers for Isaac Okoro.

Drafted one spot after No. 4 overall pick Patrick Williams in 2020, Okoro – like Williams – hasn’t developed into an impact wing during his first five years in the NBA. But he has shown the ability to be an effective three-and-D rotation player, knocking down at least 36.3% of his outside shots during each of the past three seasons while handling tough defensive assignments in Cleveland.

Okoro has two guaranteed years left on his contract, while Ball’s deal includes a team option for 2026/27, so the trade represented a rare instance of the Bulls cutting into their flexibility for next summer. However, the team still has more than $90MM in expiring player salaries coming off the books in 2026, so the front office will have the ability to go in a number of different directions with the roster at February’s trade deadline and/or next offseason.

Besides Okoro, the one notable newcomer to the roster is 12th overall pick Noa Essengue, an athletic, versatile forward who will be one of the NBA’s youngest players this season — he won’t turn 19 until December. As such, it’s probably not realistic to expect much from Essengue as a rookie, but if he shows some promise and 2024 lottery pick Matas Buzelis continues to make positive strides, the Bulls could have a couple solid building blocks at forward.

Up next

After officially re-signing Giddey last week, the Bulls are at 15 players on guaranteed contracts. They’ve also filled all three of their two-way slots. That doesn’t mean those 18 players are all assured of spots on the opening night roster. Two-way deals, in particular, can be fleeting, since the guaranteed money is so modest and doesn’t count against the cap at all, and there are plenty of trade candidates on the standard roster.

Still, I wouldn’t anticipate major changes to the current group during the preseason. The Bulls are more likely to focus on possible extension candidates, with White, Dosunmu, Vucevic, and Dalen Terry among the many players eligible.

White, who averaged a career-high 20.4 points per game last season and thrived alongside Giddey following the LaVine trade, would be the Bulls’ top extension candidate, but the team is limited to offering him a deal that maxes out at approximately $87MM over four years. He’ll be seeking a more lucrative payday and has reportedly informed the team he doesn’t plan to sign a new contract until he reaches free agency, at which point his maximum contract would increase substantially.

Vucevic also probably isn’t a realistic candidate for a new contract. Many Bulls fans likely expected him to be traded by now, which could still happen by February 5, but even if he plays out the season with the team, the center’s days in Chicago appear numbered.

Terry played a more consistent role in 2024/25, but it doesn’t feel as if he’s shown enough in his first three NBA seasons to warrant a commitment from the team a year ahead of his free agency. Unless he takes another real step forward in ’25/26, he’s at risk of not getting a qualifying offer next summer to make him a restricted free agent.

Huerter and Collins are among the Bulls’ other extension-eligible players, but to me, Dosunmu looks like the only one with a real chance to sign a new contract before opening night. Like White, he faces a limit of about $87MM over four years, but his next deal figures to come in well below that. While he’s a solid defender, Dosunmu is more of a complementary piece on offense, having set career highs with 12.3 points and 4.5 assists per game this past season.

With Giddey and Jones back on multiyear contracts and a potential deal for White on the horizon next July, you could make a case that Dosunmu is more of a luxury than a necessity for the Bulls. But he’s a Chicago native who has been one of this front office’s better draft finds, and locking him up to an extension would give the team some insurance in the event that White doesn’t stick around beyond this season. Dosunmu will be extension-eligible all season long, so there’s no urgency to get something done in the coming weeks, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the two sides begin to discuss a potential deal.

Eastern Notes: C. White, Porzingis, Knicks, Anthony, Magic

September 28th, 2025 at 9:39am CST by Luke Adams

Despite modest projections from experts and outside observers, Coby White believes the Bulls have a chance to be “really good” in 2025/26, he tells Marc J. Spears of Andscape. Besides being positive about his team’s outlook, the 25-year-old guard has set a personal goal as he enters his seventh NBA season.

“I want to win and I want to become that All-Star-caliber player,” White said. “That’s the next step for me in my personal game. I’ve had two really good seasons, averaging 20 (points per game) or whatever. The next part is for us to take that leap as a team, and that’s to win and get out of this little play-in (tournament) stage that we are in, take my game to the next level and become an All-Star.”

White is entering the final year of his current contract and will make $12.9MM in 2025/26. Because starting salaries in veteran contract extensions are limited to a percentage of the player’s previous salary (or the average league-wide salary), White has let the Bulls know he doesn’t plan on signing a new deal before reaching free agency in 2026, per Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.

Cowley believes it would be in both teams’ best interest for the Bulls and Rockets to work out a trade involving White in the wake of Fred VanVleet‘s ACL tear — Cowley suggests a package of Reed Sheppard and Tari Eason. However, White told Spears that he remains very open to the idea of continuing his career in Chicago, even if he doesn’t sign a new contract until he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer.

“I love being in Chicago. I love the front office. I love my teammates. I love the staff,” White said. “I built a great relationship with coach Billy Donovan. And for me, if it is meant to be (to) stay a Chicago Bull, then I can’t ask for nothing else.”

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

Hawks general manager Onsi Saleh said on Friday that the team feels good about where Kristaps Porzingis‘ health stands after he was plagued by post-viral syndrome during the final months of the 2024/25 season. “We’re super confident in Kristaps’ health, and him playing a healthy season,” Saleh said (Twitter link via Malik Brown of ClutchPoints). “We wouldn’t have made the trade if we didn’t think that. There was no hesitation there from us. We felt comfortable doing that at the time. We feel great about it now, and we’re excited for him to play a bunch of games this season.”
James L. Edwards III of The Athletic takes a closer look at Mike Brown‘s plan to better maximize Knicks stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns on offense, which includes using Brunson off the ball more often and moving Towns around to different areas of the floor.
New Bucks guard Cole Anthony said this week that he’s “super excited” to be in Milwaukee and that the change of scenery feels like a “breath of fresh air” after his playing time declined in Orlando in recent years, as Eric Nehm of The Athletic relays. “Obviously, I loved my time (with the Magic), but this feels like, for me, a stepping stone in my career,” Anthony said. “I just want to come in and help the team win in whichever way I can. I think they’re going to ask me to do what I can do, which is score, pass the ball, guard, whatever, but I’m just really happy to be a part of this team, specifically because it’s been great being here these past couple weeks and being with these guys. The energy is high. There’s a real professional vibe around everybody, and everybody has a chip on their shoulder.”
Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required) runs through four key questions facing the Magic ahead of the 2025/26 season, including when Jalen Suggs and Moritz Wagner will be ready to play, what the bench rotation will look like, and who will fill the club’s open two-way contract slot.

Bulls Waive Caleb Grill

September 26th, 2025 at 9:18pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Bulls have waived Caleb Grill, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

Grill signed an Exhibit 10 deal with Chicago in July after going undrafted in June. The 6’3″ guard played four games with the Bulls’ Summer League team, averaging 8.0 points and 1.3 steals in 15.0 minutes per contest while making 44.4% of his field goal attempts, including 36.4% of his three-pointers. He scored 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting during his final game in Las Vegas.

The 25-year-old previously played six seasons in college, the final two with Missouri. He averaged 13.3 PPG and 3.5 RPG and made 39.6% of his threes during his final year in 2024/25.

Grill is now eligible to join the Bulls’ G League affiliate, the Windy City Bulls, and earn a bonus up to $85,300 if he stays with the team for at least 60 days.

Central Notes: Pacers, Giannis, Giddey, Bulls, Pistons

September 26th, 2025 at 10:32am CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers won’t have their star point guard and team leader Tyrese Haliburton available at all in 2025/26 while he recovers from an Achilles tear. However, that doesn’t mean the team views the coming season as a “gap year,” as Dustin Dopirak writes for The Indianapolis Star.

“I don’t think that’s ever been what we’ve been about,” general manager Chad Buchanan told reporters on Thursday. “With Mr. (Herb) Simon as our owner, it’s always been about trying to compete and trying to win. Some years are going to be more challenging than others. Obviously, we’re down Tyrese and that will make some challenges. But we’re not looking at this as a year to try and get through. We’d never wish away a season.”

The Pacers are widely expected to take a step backward without Haliburton after making the Eastern Conference Finals in 2024 and NBA Finals in 2025. Oddsmakers view them as more likely to miss the playoffs than to make it. While Buchanan acknowledged that playing without Haliburton will likely affect Indiana’s style, slowing down the pace of the offense, he pointed out that most of the rest of the roster (with the notable exception of center Myles Turner) is returning and that those players have exhibited a tendency to defy expectations.

“This team has shown that they come together when people kinda doubt them,” Buchanan said. “I think they feel and they sense and they hear the doubt about this season for us. We’re still going to have a lot of the same identity. We still have a lot of the same core pieces on this team. The traits that those guys bring, what our coaches bring, are still there. I wouldn’t put a limit on anything this year.”

Here’s more from around the Central:

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, in an interview with Sport24, said he could envision himself playing for a European club later in his career if the timing and conditions were right, as Eurohoops relays. Antetokounmpo also suggested he’s probably not the only European star who feels that way. “Of course it can happen,” he said. “If you told (Nikola) Jokic that he would earn roughly the same money and be back home in Serbia, he would do it. For me, I think a lot about my body. The money is very different, and not just the money – the whole organization is completely different. You’ve been to the NBA, you’ve seen how things work. But every year when I play for the national team, I always end up saying the same thing.”
Josh Giddey‘s new four-year contract with the Bulls is worth exactly $100MM, is fully guaranteed (with no incentives or options), and features annual cap hits of $25MM, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. The flat structure of the deal means it will be worth a smaller percentage of the salary cap in future seasons, allowing Chicago to maximize its flexibility down the road.
The Bulls announced a series of promotions and additions within their basketball opreations department, including naming Faizan Hasnany as their executive director of basketball strategy and analytics.
Longtime Pistons scout Durand “Speedy” Walker has earned a promotion and will serve as the president of basketball operations of the Motor City Cruise, the team’s G League affiliate, according to a press release. Walker has more than 18 years of experience in the organization.

Bulls Waive Wooga Poplar

September 25th, 2025 at 8:42pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bulls have waived shooting guard Wooga Poplar, who was with the team on a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract, according to the NBA’s official transaction log.

Poplar, who spent three years at Miami (FL) before transferring to Villanova for the 2024/25 campaign, signed with the Bulls early in the summer after a strong senior season in which he averaged 15.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.3 steals in 31.9 minutes per game while shooting .460/.387/.856 in 36 appearances for the Wildcats. He went undrafted in June.

Poplar, 22, suited up for Chicago’s Summer League team in Las Vegas in July, averaging 6.5 PPG, 1.2 RPG, and 1.0 APG in 15.9 MPG across four outings. The expectation is that he’ll join the Windy City Bulls — if he spends at least 60 days with the Bulls’ G League affiliate, he’ll earn a bonus worth $85,300 on top of his standard NBAGL salary.

The move opens up a spot on the Bulls’ 21-man roster ahead of training camp next week. Chicago will likely fill that opening before camp begins.

Bulls Re-Sign Josh Giddey To Four-Year Deal

September 25th, 2025 at 3:54pm CST by Luke Adams

September 25: Giddey’s four-year contract is now official, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

September 9: The Bulls and restricted free agent guard Josh Giddey are in agreement on a four-year, $100MM contract, agent Daniel Moldovan tells Shams Charania of ESPN. It’s a fully guaranteed contract with no player or team option, Charania adds.

Giddey, who was one of four top restricted free agents still unsigned when September began, will get the most lucrative contract any RFA has signed so far this summer and will become one of just five free agents to receive at least $100MM this offseason, joining Naz Reid, Kyrie Irving, Myles Turner, and Julius Randle.

The sixth overall pick in the 2021 draft, Giddey spent his first three NBA seasons in Oklahoma City, but wasn’t an ideal fit on a Thunder roster that featured star point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The 6’8″ Australian guard was traded to the Bulls during the 2024 offseason straight up for defensive ace Alex Caruso.

Chicago faced plenty of criticism for its decision to send out one of its most valuable trade chips for a player who had just been benched by the Thunder in the postseason, without getting any sort of draft compensation in the deal. But the Bulls were confident in Giddey’s ability to thrive in more of a primary ball-handling role, and he responded with the best year of his career, setting new personal highs in rebounds (8.1) and assists (7.2) per game, as well as three-point percentage (37.8%).

While Giddey had an up-and-down first half in Chicago, he thrived in the second half, particularly after the team traded away Zach LaVine. Between the All-Star break and the end of the season, the 22-year-old nearly averaged a triple-double, with 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds, 9.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game and a .500/.457/.809 shooting line. His usage rate, which had been 20.2% prior to the All-Star break, was 24.9% the rest of the way, and the Bulls won 12 of those 19 games.

The year-to-year details of Giddey’s new deal aren’t yet known, but the Bulls will have a significant amount of cap flexibility going forward – including a big chunk of cap room in 2026 and/or 2027 – no matter how it’s structured. Prior to Giddey’s agreement, Patrick Williams had been the only player on the roster owed guaranteed money beyond the 2026/27 season.

The Bulls put out a press release announcing Giddey’s new deal shortly after Charania reported it, but have since removed that announcement from their website and their Twitter account. That’s likely a case of the team’s PR staff jumping the gun on the official announcement, not a sign that the agreement has fallen through.

With Giddey re-signing and Nets guard Cam Thomas having accepted his qualifying offer, just two notable restricted free agents still don’t have deals in place: Jonathan Kuminga of the Warriors and Quentin Grimes of the Sixers. They have until October 1 to accept their respective qualifying offers.

Load More Posts