Josh Giddey is a heck of a salesman after all.
The Bulls announced on Tuesday that they had agreed with Giddey on a four-year, $100-million contract extension, ending an ongoing false narrative that the two sides were dug into the dirt on opposing sides when it came to a new deal being reached.
The Sun-Times reported throughout the offseason that both sides were in fact optimistic on getting a deal done, with only a fair number to be decided on.
The newspaper reported last fall that Giddey and his camp wanted a Jalen Suggs, $30-million per year type extension, while the team was initially in the $22-$23 million per range.
A middle ground was reached.
Not that Giddey could be very surprised.
He was asked last spring which Giddey the Bulls would be paying for, especially after finishing post-All-Star break averaging a ridiculous 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds and 9.3 assists per game, while shooting 45.7% from three.
This coming from the same guy that was benched early on in close games because of defenses lapses.
“I think from the 50 games at the start of the season it was two completely different players and not only talking statistically, it was a confidence level, aggression level, effort level,” Giddey said of which player to bet on. “You asked me to sell myself, I’d say the second half of the year is the player who I am. The first half was a completely different guy, confidence was down, aggression down. Probably was down trying to fit in too much.”