Player A was a dud.
In one 16-game stretch in November, it got so bad that he wasn’t even finishing games for the Bulls because of his defensive letdowns. And his offense wasn’t much better; he was averaging 10.6 points and shooting 29.1% from three-point range.
Player B was a godsend.
After the All-Star break, he averaged 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 9.3 assists, improved his defense and shot 45.7% from long range.
So which Bull should get the big, fat contract extension this summer?
It’s not as easy an answer as it seems because Josh Giddey is Player A and B.
“The start of the season, I felt I couldn’t get going,” Giddey said of his Jekyll-and-Hyde 2024-25 with his new team.
“Coming into a new situation, I never want to come in here and step on any toes. I was trying too hard to fit in and please everybody, and [after the] All-Star break and [February trade] deadline, I started to play freely and be me.”
Coincidentally, that was about the same time that the Bulls traded Zach LaVine.
Bulls vice president Arturas Karnisovas has to decide if he should let Giddey, a restricted free agent, explore free agency and let the market set a price for him that the team can match or give him the $30 million per year he was seeking last fall.
Either way, every indication from the organization is that Giddey will be re-signed. It’s a priority for Karnisovas to show that he was right in dealing Alex Caruso for Giddey without getting any draft assets in return, and considering all the mistakes he has made, he needs a win.
But he also better be getting Player B. Giddey was confident that they will.
“You asked me to sell myself, I’d say the second half of the year is the player who I am,” Giddey said.
“The first half was a completely different guy — confidence was down, aggression down, probably was trying to fit in too much. The second-half player is who I am and who I’ve been, and it just took me awhile to get back to that.’’
GUARD BREAKDOWN
What the Bulls have
Giddey, Lonzo Ball, Jevon Carter, Ayo Dosunmu, Kevin Huerter, Tre Jones, Dalen Terry, Coby White.
Who could be on the move
Giddey isn’t going anywhere this summer. It’s just a matter of the price tag and how that contract is determined. After that, it gets interesting. Carter has a $6.8 million player option and undoubtedly will pick that up thanks to more Karnisovas mistakes. Jones is a free agent, and while the Bulls would love to keep him, they likely don’t have the funds to do so. Terry is still on his rookie contract but is up for an extension.
As for Ball, Dosunmu, Huerter and White, they are trade candidates. Ball is the only one of the four who isn’t going into the last year of his deal, but considering the $10 million in 2026-27 is a team option, he kind of is.
White is eligible to sign a four-year, $89 million extension in July but would be much better served to bet on himself and get a much bigger payday as an unrestricted free agent after next season. That payday could make him a $40 million-per-year player.
The draft
Karnisovas knows he will be picking No. 12 overall, and there are plenty of guards available in that spot. Kasparas Jakucionis, Egor Demin and Jase Richardson are options, but the Bulls are thin in the frontcourt and don’t have a lot of spending money in free agency.
Unless one of these guards is a must-have, the Bulls already have a crowded backcourt.
Free agency
There will be big-name veterans such as Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul available, but they don’t mesh with Karnisovas’ timeline. Then again, the only free-agent guard the Bulls should be concerned with is Jones — and keeping him. It’s tough to see how they’ll navigate that right now.
Wild-card prediction
The Bulls sign Giddey to a five-year, $150 million contract and trade Lonzo Ball to the Mavericks in a package that brings back rim protector Daniel Gafford.