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**Fox Basketball from Fox Sports**
September 5th, 2025 1:51 pm
The Chicago Bulls have reportedly increased their offer to Josh Giddey but it doesn’t seem like it will mean an end to the Australian’s ongoing contract stalemate.
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Giddey, a restricted free agent, has reportedly held out for an offer in the vicinity of $30 million ($A46m) per year this summer after a standout stretch to end his first season with the Bulls.
Chicago, on the other hand, has held strong in only being willing to offer Giddey around $20 million ($A31m) per season — although according to multiple reports that has now changed.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks reported Chicago had presented Giddey and his representation a contract of $88 million ($A135m) over four years, while ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel put the figure at between $85 million ($A130m) and $90 million ($A138m).
“This is likely the last contract proposal the Bulls will offer this offseason, as it’s essentially a compromise from what both sides wanted,” Siegel wrote.
So, will it be enough to see the standoff end? ESPN’s Brian Windhorst doesn’t think so.
Like Marks, he believes Giddey’s decision will largely depend on whether he views himself as Chicago’s potential point guard of the future and given the way the Australian performed after the All-Star break last season, you would have to think he has a strong case.
“They traded Alex Caruso, an extremely valuable player, for Josh Giddey and they would not have done that if they didn’t see him as a viable part of their future,” Windhorst said on ‘Nothing But Net’.
“Josh Giddey knows that and I think he wants to be compensated accordingly and he might have to play the waiting game, potentially even into the summer of 26.”
Windhorst went on to forecast that there could be up to “15 teams with significant salary cap space” next season, which would make the idea of signing the one-year qualifying offer and betting on himself an attractive one if he can’t come to an agreement with the Bulls.
“It’s a stalemate... this is probably the worst summer in the last decade to be a restricted free agent because there just isn’t salary cap space out there for teams to spend on restricted free agents,” Windhorst said.
“The teams that did have salary cap space, primarily the Brooklyn Nets, were not in the mood to go after restricted free agents. So you really were not going to have strong leverage and the Bulls have played it that way.
“They’ve made offers to Josh Giddey, but they’re less than he’s wanted... Josh has a qualifying offer that he can accept for around $12 million ($A18m) and that is a long way from what the Bulls are offering.
“But next year there’s potentially 10 to 15 teams with significant salary cap space. So if he were to accept that, that’s his leverage against the Bulls.
“Really, it’s just a matter of trying to stare each other down.”
If Giddey does accept the qualifying offer he would then enter the summer of 2026 as an unrestricted free agent. The deadline for Giddey to do so is October 1.