‘Dug in’: Josh Giddey camp won’t budge on $230m contract demand
Australian NBA star Josh Giddey remains locked in contract negotiations with the Chicago Bulls as his future remains up in the air.
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The stalemate in Josh Giddey’s contract negotiations with the Chicago Bulls remains despite “good dialogue” between the two parties during the first week of free agency, according to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.
Reports out of the United States state that Giddey’s management will not budge from their demand for a deal replicating the one Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs signed last year.
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Suggs, a guard who at 24 years of age is slightly older than 22-year-old Giddey, sealed a five-year, US$150.5 million (A$229.7m) rookie contract extension with the Magic last October.
The US$30 million (A$45.8m) per season price tag has been linked to Giddey for several months, but the salary cap squeeze around league is seemingly playing into the Bulls hands.
Rivals simply do not have the funds at present to go shopping for the young Australian, and the lack of other offers is allowing the Bulls to play the waiting game and try to reduce the figure Giddey’s management are after.
As his camp negotiate with the Bulls, Giddey is back home in Melbourne and was spotted at the Carlton versus Collingwood AFL match on Friday night at the MCG.
He recently appeared on the Balls Magnets podcast with Collingwood midfielder Tom Mitchell, and showed his class by revealing he holds no ill feelings towards the Oklahoma City Thunder, who traded Giddey to Chicago last off-season and then went on to win the NBA championship.
“The next team I watched the most (after the Bulls) is OKC. I love them,” Giddey said.
“I’m so close with a lot of the guys there. I genuinely root for those guys and want them to win the championship. I’m just so close with so many people there.
“If the Bulls don’t win it, I hope the Thunder win it because I’m close with the guys.”
Giddey is not the only Australian making trade and free agency headlines in the NBA with Boomers centre Jock Landale signing with the Memphis Grizzlies, according to ESPN.
Landale’s move from the Houston Rockets comes via free agency after he waived by the Rockets as part of their efforts to make room for Kevin Durant.
It also came after the Grizzlies traded centre Jay Huff to the Indiana Pacers, who will fill the role of Myles Turner, who departed Indiana for the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Grizzlies will Landale’s fourth NBA team after stints with the San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns before his time in Houston.
The Rockets also traded away Cam Whitmore, to the Washington Wizards.
During the week, ESPN reported that the Dallas Mavericks will re-sign Australian Dante Exum on a one-year deal, while The New York Post reported that the Knicks “expressed interest” in free agent Ben Simmons.
Originally published as ‘Dug in’: Josh Giddey camp won’t budge on $230m contract demand