Josh Giddey wants a contract similar to Jalen Suggs’

Following back-to-back first-round exits, Banchero doesn’t want his fourth season to end the same way. “That would be looked at as not a success if we were to get bounced in the first round again,” he said. “Now the mindset is: How can I — how can we — do everything that it takes to make sure that’s not the case?” He’s on board with president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman’s message Thursday that the franchise is entering a “win-now” phase of its roster construction, even if that means altering Orlando’s squad that won 41 games despite only having Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs for six. “Every year since my rookie year, the team’s been different,” Banchero said. “So you know that coming in that next year it is going to be different. It’s just a matter of what’s going to be different. “I’m excited to see because whatever’s being done to help us win more games, I’m excited for,” he added. -via Orlando Sentinel / May 3, 2025

The Orlando Magic guard, known for his physicality and defensive tenacity, vowed to maintain his aggressive approach as he eyes a full return for the 2025-26 campaign. “I ain’t changing a damn thing. I ain’t gonna lie to you,” Suggs said. “I ain’t changing nothing, that’s what all this work is for.” -via Clutch Points / May 1, 2025

We miss Jalen so immensely. He’s the heart and soul of what we do defensively. He applies constant ball pressure. He’s flying around the court making stuff so much easier on the rest of us because we’re able to use his defense to create offense. Whether it’s his steals, chasing guys down, blocking shots or him just forcing guys in the bad shots, it ignites our offense. So not having him out there, it’s been tough. And honestly, we’ll never be as good of a team as we can be unless he’s out there. We know that we have to hold it down. And he’s been great just being vocal, still being a leader, trying to encourage guys throughout the time he has been out. But we miss him a lot. Just that one game he played before he got hurt, against Detroit, you could feel the difference he made. And just his energy and his enthusiasm and just his toughness and everything he brings on the court, you know, takes our team to another level. -via Andscape / March 5, 2025

The Bulls can let Giddey hit the market — where there are limited suitors — see what the bidding is, then have the right to match any offer. Basically, it’s what they should’ve done with Patrick Williams and didn’t. They don’t learn lessons easily, however, so expect Giddey to get the five-year, $150 million extension. -via Chicago Sun-Times / April 20, 2025

News reached Bulls players that Karnisovas made the decision to fire director of player development/shooting coach guru Peter Patton after the loss to Miami in Wednesday’s play-in game, leaving a core of current players “beyond pissed,” as one said in a text. “Coach Pete was the real deal … (messed) up,” another player said. Not just smoke coming from the locker room for the wildly popular Patton, but a full fire. Throughout this season, players like Coby White, Patrick Williams, Dalen Terry, Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis all publicly praised the work they put in with Patton and the benefits it had on their game. -via Chicago Sun-Times / April 18, 2025

Joe Cowley: Josh Giddey didn’t have concrete answers on how he’s going to emotionally handle the steps of restricted free agency. -via Twitter @JCowleyHoops / April 17, 2025