Bulls’ Josh Giddey: ‘We Need To Start The Year Strong’

The Chicago Bulls and restricted free agent Josh Giddey resolved their contract stalemate last month, when the former No. 6 overall pick of the 2021 draft agreed to a four-year, $100 million deal.

“The fact it’s done now, I can move forward; the next four years, I’m locked in with the Bulls,” Giddey told ESPN’s Olgun Uluc during an exclusive interview on Thursday.

“Super excited, love the city, they embraced me quickly, my teammates are awesome, the building, front office, coaches, everyone’s been awesome. Very, very happy in Chicago, and excited to be there another four years. That was the team I wanted to be at.”

Josh Giddey Ready To Prove Doubters Wrong

Giddey, who turns 23 on Oct. 10, is now ready to prove he’s worth $25 million per season. His previous deal was the four-year, $27.21 million rookie-scale contract he signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder in August 2021.

“I’m looking to hit the ground running. You don’t ever want it to be a two-month, three-month hot stretch,” Giddey said. “You want it to be a regular occurrence. I’ve had a great offseason, so [I’m] excited to get back there and get into it.”

The Bulls acquired Giddey in the 2024 trade deal that sent Alex Caruso to Oklahoma City.

In 70 games (69 starts) last season with the Bulls, he averaged 14.6 points and career highs of 8.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 1.2 steals per contest. The Australian also shot 46.5% from the floor and a career-best 37.8% from deep.

Per Basketball Reference, he finished 20th in the league in defensive rebounds (439) and 10th in assists (503). His player efficiency rating (18.1) and true shooting percentage (57%) were career highs as well.

Bulls Nearly Qualified For Playoffs Last Season

According to ESPN Stats & Information, Giddey also posted seven triple-doubles in 2024-25, the second most in a season in Bulls franchise history, trailing Michael Jordan in 1988-89 (15).

After sending Zach LaVine to the Sacramento Kings at the trade deadline, Chicago went on to qualify for the play-in tournament as the 12th seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Bulls, however, were eliminated from playoff contention for the third season in a row after losing in the first stage of the tournament to the Miami Heat.

Despite missing the playoffs for a third straight year, Chicago won 15 of its last 20 games of the regular season. Giddey is now hoping for a strong, healthy start to begin the upcoming 2025-26 campaign.

“Hopefully everyone is healthy to start the season. I like to think we’ve got good depth, and the East is wide open. It’s very open, so we need to start the year strong,” Giddey added.

“Our identity is a very fast-paced team, we get up and down the floor, defensively we have to be better, and I think we will be. That’s a whole team effort.”

The Bulls host the Detroit Pistons on Oct. 22 to open their season.