Four weeks into the NBA’s 2025 free agent period, the Bulls and restricted free agent guard Josh Giddey are locked into a stalemate in their contract negotiations, but the two sides have remained engaged in discussions throughout the offseason and there’s mutual interest in working out a multiyear agreement, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.
According to Cowley, the two sides are still apart by about $8-10MM per year. That lines up with previous reporting that indicated Giddey’s camp is seeking an average annual value of $30MM while the Bulls prefer a deal in the range of $20MM per year.
For what it’s worth, rival executives polled by Fred Katz and Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic leaned more toward the Bulls’ valuation than Giddey’s. The Athletic’s duo asked 16 sources who work in NBA front offices what they’d consider a “fair” contract for Giddey and 14 of them suggested an average annual value ranging from $20-25MM per year.
However, as Katz and Lorenzi note, 10 of those 16 respondents also said they’d give Giddey four or five guaranteed years, which speaks to a level of optimism about his long-term floor. Only four free agents – Naz Reid, Myles Turner, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Sam Merrill – have received at least four guaranteed years since free agency began.
“If you’re offering a four-year contract, you have to be correct,” one executive told The Athletic. “But Giddey, you could offer a four-year deal.
“Giddey is the anomaly because he might be good enough to be a four-year player. Nobody wants to go with long-term contracts because everybody wants this idea of flexibility. You wanna have the ability to (say), ‘You know what? My team’s not very good. Let’s pivot.’”
According to Katz and Lorenzi, four executives suggested a four-year, $100MM deal for Giddey, while the most bullish respondent said he’d be comfortable with a five-year, $125MM commitment.
Of course, it’s worth noting – as was the case when Katz conducted a similar poll on Jonathan Kuminga‘s value – that rival team executives, who will have their own contract negotiations to deal with and don’t want the market to be set too high, are more likely to take a conservative view when asked to project a player’s contract. In other words, the responses in a poll of 16 agents might look more like what Giddey and his representatives are seeking.
As Cowley writes, there’s no rush for the Bulls and Giddey to bridge the gap in the short term — the 22-year-old’s qualifying offer won’t expire until at least October 1, which is right around the time training camps will be getting underway.
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.