Chicago Bulls predicted to up $80 million offer to Josh Giddey

Josh Giddey reportedly wanted no part of the $80 million deal he was offered by the Chicago Bulls. What about $96 million over the same four years? According to Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale, that would be much more doable.

Favale wrote, “The Chicago Bulls have offered Josh Giddey a four-year deal in the neighborhood of $80 million. The 22-year-old, however, continues to seek $30 million per season. Meeting in the middle feels fait accompli.”

For now, the 22-year-old guard doesn’t have any other major suitors to help drive the price up. There is no bidding war whatsoever, and there’s not going to be, otherwise we’d have heard about it by now, Favale pointed out.

“While that gives the Bulls a ton of leverage, they’re not about to squeeze their young floor general to the point he signs his qualifying offer and heads into unrestricted free agency next summer,” the insider added. The Bulls do want to lock him up for a while, just not at a bad price.

“Bet on this ending with a four-year deal that sees Chicago come up a little bit and Giddey moving off his initial ask in exchange for flexibility at the end of the contract,” he said. “Prediction: Josh Giddey re-signs with the Bulls on a four-year, $96 million deal, with a player option on the final season.”

That would be very much in the middle of the $20 million and $30 million salaries that the Bulls and Giddey wanted, respectively. It would be a much more affordable deal, and at only four years, it wouldn’t last all that long, even if it did age terribly. It’d be a win for both sides; it just remains to be seen if and when they’ll realize that.