As the regular season approaches, four key NBA players are stuck in restricted free agency purgatory.
Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey, Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas, Philadelphia 76ers guard Quentin Grimes and Golden State Warriors wing Jonathan Kuminga are all unsigned as the calendar flips to September, despite each of the four being talented enough to warrant a sizeable contract otherwise.
The athletes and their respective teams have been locked in a stalemate. The teams don't want to pay their players the size of the contracts they want, but the players don't have any leverage to leave, because no other teams have enough salary cap space to sign the athletes away from their incumbent franchises.
Giddey showed significant improvement with the Bulls last season, but Chicago likely wants to ensure his progress is a trend, not an outlier, before rewarding him with a massive extension. On Thursday morning, ESPN NBA Insider Bobby Marks revealed that the Bulls have increased their offer to Giddey, but the contract still falls short of the 22-year-old guard's expectations.
"When you dig around the Josh Giddey situation, he was offered four years, $80 million when free agency started," Marks said. "That number has gone up to four years, $88 [million]. That number is in the bottom of starting point guards. If you're the Bulls and you just committed five years, $90 million to Patrick Williams based off a lesser body of work, now, you're all of a sudden drawing a line in the sand as far as where you are with Josh Giddey."
If the Bulls believe Giddey is their point guard of the future, Marks added that signing Giddey to a three-year or four-year deal worth roughly $26 million to $28 million annually would still be good value for Chicago. K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network reported two weeks ago that Giddey was searching for a deal in the range of $30 million per year, still much higher than the $22 million salary that the Bulls have allegedly put on the table.
Giddey has until October 1 to sign his qualifying offer — a one-year deal worth $11.1 million — if the two parties cannot come to an agreement. However, Giddey signing the qualifying offer would make him an unrestricted free agent in 2026. Chicago likely doesn't want to risk losing one of its key starters for nothing, while Giddey wants long-term financial security, incentivizing both sides to find a solution in the coming weeks.
After being traded from Oklahoma City a year ago, Giddey had the best season of his young career in Chicago. The 6-foot-8 Australian made 69 starts for the Bulls in 2024, averaging 14.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Giddey also shot a career-high 37.8% from deep and will look to prove the shooting leap is permanent this fall.