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How Josh Giddey landed lucrative new shoe deal with Puma amid NBA contract negotiations with Chicago Bulls

Against the backdrop of a standoff with Chicago over a life-changing contract, Josh Giddey inked a lucrative new shoe deal. Here’s how it happened and why the Aussie and the Bulls aren’t close on a deal — yet.

Josh Giddey wants to be a long-term Bull and Chicago wants him to stay — so why the hell isn’t a deal done yet?

Giddey, the towering 203cm Australian point guard who put up Magic Johnson-like numbers in his first season in the Windy City, is eligible for a new five-year contract that would make him rich beyond most mere mortal’s wildest dreams.

But the Bulls are driving a hard bargain on someone they see as a lead guard and franchise cornerstone, while Giddey, still just 22 and already a four-year NBA veteran, knows his value and isn’t budging — for now.

Here’s a look at where the two sides are at, the factors impacting the union and what options the Melbourne-born Australian Boomers’ leader has to explore.

The standoff over Josh Giddey's contract with the Chicago Bulls continues.
The standoff over Josh Giddey's contract with the Chicago Bulls continues.

WHY ISN’T A DEAL DONE YET?

Reports out of the US suggest Giddey is seeking a contract similar to that of Orlando Magic guard Jalen Suggs who, in 2024, signed a five-year deal worth north of $230 million.

That’s around $46 million a year — half of the $92 million Golden State Warriors legend Steph Curry will earn next season.

Depending on who you get your NBA news from out of the US, that’s either fair value or an overpay.

It appears the Bulls believe the latter: Chicago is yet to reach a number that would trigger a deal — and Giddey and his representatives are standing their ground.

WHERE ARE THE NEGOTIATIONS AT?

The Bulls, who traded defensive guard Alex Caruso to Oklahoma City for Giddey last off-season, could have locked him away on a rookie extension way back in October last year.

When free agency opened on June 30, Chicago tabled a one-year, $17.15 million qualifying offer to Giddey that made him a restricted free agent.

That means he’s free to negotiate with any NBA club but enables the Bulls to match any offer sheet he might sign with another team — more on that in a minute.

Since then, the rumour mill has been in overdrive.

Giddey has recently lunched with Bulls coach Billy Donovan.

But Code Sports has been told reports out of the US that talks on an extension have been “positive” between the two sides are not accurate, as of Thursday.

WHY GIDDEY’S A VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCE

You might have heard the term ‘apron’ a lot this off-season when free agents and salary caps are mentioned.

Under its new Collective Bargaining Agreement, the NBA’s salary cap has two ‘aprons’ that impose restrictions and sanctions on teams who exceed them — see the table but that includes a host of trade and contract functions, including potential draft pick penalties.

So, in this new NBA world, teams have had to be more frugal and, with every team fighting to stay under the second apron, put simply, the market for Giddey and other high profile free agents, like Golden State’s Jonathon Kuminga, has contracted to the point where their current teams hold the aces.

Put simply, Giddey hasn’t been able to secure an offer sheet from another club commensurate with what he might get from the Bulls because none have the necessary cap space to throw a godfather offer at him.

HOW CAN HE GET AROUND THAT CAP CRUNCH?

Remember that qualifying offer?

Well, Giddey can put pen to paper on that one-year deal, earn nearly $20 million with the Bulls and use next season as an 82-game audition for new suitors.

He’ll then become an unrestricted free agent in a market where hopefully he’s been able to enhance his standing and one or more other teams have plotted moves to ensure they have the cap space to sign him.

Something of a bet on himself — easy pickings for a kid who has done that his whole life.

The unique Giddey is an elite passer and floor general with the ability to dominate smaller guards and crash the glass. He’s shown improvement every season and lifted his three-ball — something that had long been a chink in the armour — to a respectable 38 per cent last campaign.

Josh Giddey has improved his three-point shot markedly. Picture: Getty Images
Josh Giddey has improved his three-point shot markedly. Picture: Getty Images
Josh Giddey skies to slam dunk for the Bulls. Picture: Getty Images/AFP
Josh Giddey skies to slam dunk for the Bulls. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

If he does sign that one-year deal, you can almost guarantee the son of Melbourne Tigers favourite son Warrick Giddey will go nuclear.

The Bulls will desperately want to avoid this scenario on two fronts:

1. They’d risk losing Giddey for nothing, just two years after they sent an asset like Caruso out the door to acquire him.

2. If Giddey signs the qualifying offer, it hands him the power of veto in any trade scenario the Bulls propose — essentially, he can walk and ensure the Bulls get nothing in return.

WHAT’S NEXT?

We’re three weeks into free agency and, while it doesn’t appear a deal is close just yet, Code Sports has been told it would be fair to say the two sides are expected to eventually find a middle ground.

Whether that’s a five-year whopper or potentially a shorter deal that might be front-loaded and include player options, remains to be seen.

Giddey, at just 22, is among the most important people in Australian basketball’s hope of an Olympic medal. Picture: AFP
Giddey, at just 22, is among the most important people in Australian basketball’s hope of an Olympic medal. Picture: AFP

A BIG POSITIVE AMID PROTRACTED NEGOTIATIONS

Against the backdrop of negotiations for a life-changing new playing contract, it was announced this week Giddey had become the latest athlete to join Puma in it’s re-emergence in the basketball sneaker scene.

Giddey had long-worn Nike, with a preference for Kobe Bryant’s signature shoe. But, as multiple brands clamoured for his signature, Code Sport has been told he chose to ink a “very lucrative” four-year deal with Puma, because it “felt like the best partnership”.

Giddey joins fellow former NBL Next Star LaMelo Ball and Indiana Pacers franchise guard Tyrese Haliburton as faces of the brand.

Whether that new shoe deal makes it more palatable for Giddey to take a little less from the Bulls is to be confirmed, but Code Sports understands that, as part of the deal, he will get his own player edition of a Puma silhouette next season.

The natural next step would be a signature shoe, one he’ll hopefully be wearing in Chicago, long-term.

Originally published as How Josh Giddey landed lucrative new shoe deal with Puma amid NBA contract negotiations with Chicago Bulls

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Original URL: https://www.themercury.com.au/sport/basketball/nba/how-josh-giddey-landed-lucrative-new-shoe-deal-with-puma-amid-nba-contract-negotiations-with-chicago-bulls/news-story/78d189cd33e7733a630771e4dfe68b66