Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels set to smash Ben Simmons’ record for richest Aussie NBA deal
In 2019, Ben Simmons signed the richest NBA deal for an Australian — $240 million over five years. That’s the starting price for young Boomers Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels.
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Young Boomers Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels are each set to smash Ben Simmons’ Australian record for richest NBA contract, the in-demand 22-year-old guards set to sign massive new deals worth over half-a-billion dollars combined.
Sublime play has put the Victorian duo among the hottest young players in the NBA this season. Giddey is the central figure in Chicago Bulls mid-season revival and Daniels among the fancies for the league’s Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved awards as the league leader in steals.
Former No.1 pick Simmons, in 2019, signed a five-year, $242 million contract extension with Philadelphia, the richest deal ever signed by an Australian.
Sources told CODE Sports negotiations for both Giddey and Daniels begin at that number over five years and could climb as high as $320 million.
That’s an insane $64 million per season that could be on offer for the Lighthouse Sports pair who are both represented by Aussie power agent Daniel Moldovan.
Drafted by Oklahoma City with the sixth pick in the 2021 draft and traded to Chicago prior to this campaign, Giddey will become a restricted free agent at season’s end. That means he can negotiate with any and all of the 29 other NBA teams but the Bulls have the right to match any offer sheet he might sign.
Should a satisfactory deal not materialise, the son of Melbourne Tigers legend Warrick Giddey could choose to ink the $18.2 million, one-year qualifying offer with Chicago. That would then make him an unrestricted free agent after next season and allow him to walk to any other team in the NBA — and the Bulls would be left with nothing in return.
Given Chicago traded veteran stopper Alex Caruso to the Thunder for Giddey, shipped out veteran star Zach LaVine and look set to part ways with experienced big Nikola Vucevic at season’s end, the Bulls are leaning into a youth movement, headlined by Giddey, star guard Coby White and emerging rookie forward Matas Buzelis.
Add to that Giddey’s stellar play since the All-Star break, 22.8 points, 10.5 rebounds and 9.2 assists — and a walk-off half-court buzzer-beating game winner over LeBron James and the Lakers that reverberated all over the world — and it’s a safe bet the Bulls will look to lock away the young leader.
Daniels, drafted by New Orleans the year after Giddey with the eighth pick, was also traded this off-season and, after emerging at the Paris Olympics, he has been the best wing defender in the entire NBA.
At 22 years and six days, he became the youngest player to record 200 steals in the season, 236 days younger than the legendary Magic Johnson when he did it — 42 years ago.
Daniels has 208 steals at 3.1 per game — the next best is Thunder MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has 85 less in a couple more games. He’s got 399 deflections — 151 more than No.2 Kelly Oubre, of Philadelphia — and is second in loose balls recovered (72) behind New York’s Josh Hart (78).
The Bendigo boy has become the perfect foil for the smaller, ultra-talented but more defensively-challenged Trae Young in the Hawks’ back court as they, too, lean into a youth movement with 2024 No.1 pick Zaccharie Risacher and big man Jalen Johnson, who was taken with pick 20 in the same draft as Giddey and signed his own five-year, $238 million extension last off-season.
The difference for Daniels is he can only negotiate with Atlanta on an extension, which, if agreed to, would kick in after next season — where he’ll still rake in a cool $12.2 million for his efforts in the final deal of his rookie contract.
Should Daniels claim one of the two aforementioned awards, his bargaining power will skyrocket.
Regardless, both players appear to get better every time they step on the floor, a factor that bodes well for their hip pockets — and for the Boomers’ medal hopes at the 2028 Olympics and beyond.
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