Josh Giddey Reportedly Offered 4-Year, $88M Bulls Contract amid NBA Rumors

The Chicago Bulls have increased their original offer to Josh Giddey, but they are still looking to retain him at a lower rate than most starting point guards around the NBA are currently making.

In a YouTube video (starts at 13:35 mark), ESPN's Bobby Marks reported the Bulls are offering Giddey a four-year, $88 million deal as a restricted free agent.

NBA insider Jake Fischer reported on Aug. 10 that the Bulls' offer to Giddey was for $80 million over four years, but Giddey's camp has been holding out for a deal closer to $30 million annually.

Even with Marks reporting the Bulls have upped their offer, Giddey would still be among the lowest-paid starting point guards in the league if he took it.

The $22 million average annual salary would rank 25th among all players at the position. It's sandwiched between Terry Rozier ($24.1 million) and Collin Sexton ($17.7 million).

There's certainly an argument that would be a fair value for Giddey. He has put up solid box-score stats throughout his career, but his overall impact has been a subject of debate.

Giddey was played off the court during the 2024 playoffs for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals against the Dallas Mavericks because his defense was bad and the Mavs didn't care about guarding him at the three-point line because he wasn't effective as a shooter.

Some of those shooting woes did improve for Giddey in his first season with the Bulls. He shot a career-high 37.8 percent from behind the arc in 2024-25 after connecting on 31.0 percent of his attempts in three years with Oklahoma City.

Giddey also closed last season strong with 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 9.3 assists per game over his final 19 starts. He's only 22 years old, so there's reason to be optimistic that he is coming into his own.

However, the Bulls still have a lot of leverage in this situation because no other team has cap space to give Giddey an offer sheet. Cam Thomas had to settle for the one-year qualifying offer worth $6 million from the Brooklyn Nets as a restricted free agent.

Giddey could follow Thomas' lead and sign his qualifying offer worth $11.1 million, then look to test unrestricted free agency next summer to see if the exact long-term deal he's seeking becomes available.

The deadline for restricted free agents to sign the qualifying offer is Oct. 1, but NBA rules do allow for that to be extended if necessary.

In his first season with the Bulls, Giddey averaged 14.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game in 70 appearances.