Josh Giddey is a heck of a salesman after all.
The Bulls announced on Tuesday that they had agreed with Giddey on a four-year, $100 million contract extension, ending an ongoing false narrative that the two sides were dug in when it came to a new deal being reached.
The Sun-Times reported throughout the offseason that both sides were in fact optimistic on getting a deal done, with only a fair number to be decided on.
The Sun-Times reported last fall that Giddey and his camp wanted a Jalen Suggs, $30 million per year type extension, while the team was initially in the $22 million-$23 million per year range.
A middle ground was reached.
Not that Giddey should be very surprised.
First, executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas gave a lot to get him, specifically helping Oklahoma City win the NBA championship thanks to the deal that sent defensive sniper Alex Caruso to the Thunder for Giddey prior to the 2024-25 campaign.
Secondly, Giddey himself was asked last spring which Giddey the Bulls would be paying for, especially after finishing post-All-Star break averaging a ridiculous 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 9.3 assists per game, while shooting 45.7% from three.
This coming from the same guy that Bulls coach Billy Donovan benched several times in late-game situations early on in the year because of defensive lapses.
“I think from the 50 games at the start of the season it was two completely different players and not only talking statistically, it was a confidence level, aggression level, effort level,” Giddey said when asked which player the Bulls should bet on. “You asked me to sell myself, I’d say the second half of the year is the player who I am. The first half was a completely different guy, confidence was down, aggression down. Probably was down trying to fit in too much.”
No longer the issue.
Not only did Giddey eventually prove he could fit in, helping the Bulls to a 15-5 record over their final 20 regular-season games, but now remains one of the few core pieces that the team has invested in to fit in for the immediate future.
Coby White, Nikola Vucevic, Ayo Dosunmu, Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins and Jevon Carter are each entering the final year of their current contracts, leaving only Giddey, Patrick Williams (four years, $72 million left), Isaac Okoro (two years, $23 million left), Jalen Smith (two years, $18.5 million), Tre Jones (three years, $24 million), and of course the rookie contracts of Matas Buzelis and Noa Essengue on the books moving forward.
Dalen Terry and Julian Phillips could both enter discussions on extensions this fall, but the two role players are not priorities.
So what comes next in this rebuild that Karnisovas will not call a rebuild?
White turned down an extension and will gamble on himself to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be out of the Bulls’ plans by any means. It will, however, be a waiting game.
The Bulls have been shopping Vucevic the last two years and will continue keeping that option open, while Dosunmu, Huerter, Collins and Carter are also possible pieces to be moved by themselves or in a package.
What the Giddey deal does is give them a bit more time to figure out which direction they want to go. The obvious concern is what if Giddey and White remain very solid players, but not superstars?
If White is re-signed for $40 million per year, there’s a scenario in which they are paying $83 million a season for White, Giddey and Williams, and not one of them is an All-Star.
That’s tough to swallow, no matter how good the salesman is.
