Josh Giddey and the Bulls still remain far apart in talks on a new deal to keep the Australian in Chicago, although a recent survey of rival NBA front offices has offered a glimpse into what the market could have looked like for the 22-year-old guard.
Watch live coverage of NBL 2025-26 season with ESPN on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
While it was widely expected at first that Giddey and the Bulls would come to an agreement, and there haven’t been any indications that still won’t eventually happen, the two sides remain far apart on price.
The Chicago Sun Times reported on Tuesday morning that figure is “somewhere between $8 million and $10 million per year”, having previously claimed that Giddey is after “Jalen Suggs-like extension that would pay him $30 million a season”.
The Times went on to report that the Bulls “took the prove-it stance” and for now, Giddey and his camp has done just that.
In fairness, both sides are incentivised to be patient but the Bulls in particular are in a position of power given there isn’t a market for Giddey.
That is because there aren’t really any teams with the necessary cap space to sign him for close to that $30 million a season figure, and even if there are they don’t have a genuine need at the point guard position.
But if rival teams did have the money to sign him? Well, it sounds like for the most part Giddey would still be looking at closer to that lower range of $20 million based on reporting from The Athletic.
Flagg scores 10 in Summer League debut | 01:23
The publication recently polled 16 people working in NBA front offices, including no one from the Bulls, to see what they thought a “fair” contract would be for Giddey.
This, however, was as much about what they thought Giddey deserved to be paid as how many years he should be signed, because as the article noted long-term contracts are growing increasingly rare with teams wanting more roster flexibility.
Giddey’s mean average yearly value in the poll was $22.3 million a year, with the overwhelming majority (14 of 16) responding with an average annual salary between $20 million and $25 million.
The lowest valuation of Giddey came from one front-office staffer who admitted to not being a fan of the Australian’s game, putting forward $50 million over four years, which comes out to just $12.5 million a year.
The largest hypothetical contract offer from one respondent was five years and $125 million, although that still comes out lower than the $30 million per year Giddey is reportedly after.
That $25 million mark, however, was the most common response with seven participants suggesting it.
As for the number of years, seven responded with four while three suggested five-year contracts.
“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,” the executive added, calling Giddey the “anomaly” to the NBA trend of shorter contracts “because he might be good enough to be a four-year player”.
Giddey is coming off a promising first year with the Bulls where he averaged 14.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.2 assists, although those numbers were significantly improved across the board after the All-Star break (21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 9.3 assists).
Discussion about this post