The Chicago Bulls offseason standoff with Josh Giddey ended today when Shams Charania announced that the two parties had agreed to a four-year, $100 million contract to re-sign and keep the Australian guard in tow.

This is a major deal for the Bulls, as the long contractual standoff seemingly had no clear end in sight heading into this week. Now that Giddey is slated to be a member of the Bulls core for the near future, it is only right to dig deeper into what this actually means for the franchise as a whole as we gear up for the 2025-26 NBA season.

1. Giddey will continue to be the driving force behind Billy Donovan’s up-tempo offense

Billy Donovan had talked about wanting the Bulls to play fast and take more 3-point shots for multiple years leading up to last season’s breakthrough in terms of truly playing the way that Donovan wanted. A big part of that breakthrough was Giddey’s arrival in Chicago. For the 2024-25 season, the Bulls finished second in pace (number of possessions per 48 minutes for a team or player) with 103.61 possessions per 48 minutes. In layman’s terms: they played very, very fast.

To have a team truly commit to a fast-paced playstyle, you need players who are unafraid to crash the defensive glass hard, commit to running often, and unselfish enough to always throw the hit-ahead pass to teammates streaking up the court. A player like Josh Giddey.

Giddey’s unselfishness with the ball and special vision led him to a massive 32.2% Assist Rate, the second-highest of his career. And there is evidence of Giddey’s unselfishness rubbing off on the rest of the team. Chicago finished last season with a 67.3% Assist Rate as a team, 7th in the league. With only two new additions to the team in Isaac Okoro and Noa Essengue, it is fair to say Giddey has a strong chance to pick up right where he left off in terms of his level of play.

2. The front office will focus on Coby White’s impending unrestricted free agency

A question that had lingered throughout the background of Giddey’s restricted free agency was, “just how much are the Bulls willing to pay for their starting backcourt of the future?” Well, as of now, we have half of that question answered.

Giddey’s new contract is reportedly fully guaranteed with no player or team options.

Frankly speaking, the lack of a player option to allow Giddey to hit the market again soon is somewhat surprising, but also something he may have had to concede to get to the $25 million yearly salary figure.

Coby White–according to reporting from Jake Fischer–may be looking for a salary north of the $30 million range. This would be a contract in the range of Toronto Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley, whose contract is five-years, $175 million ($35 million per year). While fans will generally react with shock to these figures, looking at contracts as a “percentage of the salary cap,” rather than the outright salary figure can help keep things in perspective as salaries continue to rise.

All of that being said, getting Giddey re-signed on a $25 million per year deal–less than what he was looking for–doesn’t guarantee that the Bulls will immediately meet White’s salary demands, but it could make it more likely. One would think that the Bulls long standoff with Giddey over his salary had at least a bit to do with their long-term financial planning in terms of retaining players like White and Ayo Dosunmu, who is also hitting unrestricted free agency but missed considerable time last season due to injury. 

3. The long-term future of the center position moves further up the front office’s list of priorities

This one is not as related to Giddey as the other points in this story, but it is nonetheless something important that the Bulls front office will no doubt turn their attention to next along with the aforementioned Coby White contract situation, and that is the future of the center position in Chicago.

Nikola Vucevic–a polarizing figure in Chicago sports talk himself–is on an expiring contract heading into next season, as is Zach Collins, his backup. Jalen Smith is signed for two more seasons but is someone I consider more of a true PF even if he can log some minutes at C. On top of that, Smith has never topped 24.7 minutes per game in a season.

This means the Bulls center for the next several years is either going to be a re-signed Vucevic or Collins, or a big man who is not on the roster and possibly not in the league yet.

Chicago owns their own 2026 1st round pick as well as a lottery protected pick from a 2021 trade with the Portland Trail Blazers. Portland finished last season with a 36-46 record, showing more fight than many expected as they continue to find their identity as a young team. This offseason Portland added Jrue Holiday, Damian Lillard, and rookie Summer League sensation Hansen Yang, and they also bought out Deandre Ayton and traded away Anfernee Simons.

All of this is to say, Portland profiles as an impressive defensive team and their offseason moves seem to indicate a club that wants to take a real step towards making the postseason. This is very relevant to Chicago, because Portland had the 11th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and it is reasonable to think with internal improvement they could easily fall out of the lottery entirely for the 2026 NBA Draft, providing the Bulls with two picks to grab a long-term center in an absolutely loaded draft class.

Whether it be through the draft or free agency, the Bulls will have to address the center position.

With Giddey (and Tre Jones) re-signed and the White and Dosunmu negotiations likely already underway to some extent, the Bulls guard room will have options. However, the cupboard looks quite bare down the line in terms of options at center for the 2026-27 Bulls. But with the 34-year old Vucevic and 27-year old Collins both expiring, this season provides a blank canvas for both to show they should be re-signed to be the “man in the middle.”

MORE: The Chicago Bulls' Gamble on Josh Giddey Could Define Their Future

MORE: Will Noa Essengue Be on the 'Matas Buzelis Plan'?

MORE: Former Chicago Bulls Given Strong Hall of Fame Cases

MORE: Chicago Bulls Coach Billy Donovan Inducted into Basketball Hall of Fame

MORE: Market Views Josh Giddey as Solid Most Improved Player Candidate