Bulls ready for new season

It was a choice, not boring readers throughout summer with my gee-where's-this-goin' thoughts on restricted free agent Josh Giddey.

The Bulls long ago made a public choice with Giddey's future, identifying Alex Caruso's prime as its equal. There was nothing new to pass along until September, the month everyone guessed when Giddey would sign his wholly unsurprising four-year, $100 million contract. Josh wanted $120 million, Bulls wanted $80 million, us Bulls fans wanted none of this to ever, ever happen.

Giddey's counting stats (14.6 points and eight boards and seven dimes in 30 minutes) were wonderful in 2024-25, his fourth season. He only turns 23 in October, his three-point numbers improved to 38 percent. He doesn't bend his knees much to do anything, to gather passes or throw or shoot the basketball. He appears to float at full height, as if crouching would take away whatever magic makes the man out of Josh Giddey.

It is an uncomfortable experience, watching him, like he forgot to stretch before a contest or tape his ankles or both. He still aims three-point shots, making them with greater accuracy. Opponents do not care, seeing the attempt for what it is, a guessed answer landing correctly. No expected essays for 6-8 guys with handle, every test is multiple choice, in with a chance.

Or whatever height Giddey is, it doesn't matter because he doesn't move or deter defensively (same block rate as Patrick Williams, steal rate of Kevin Huerter) and doesn't move other teams to worry about him. Great defensive groups can be built with four perfect players around someone like Josh Giddey, I have to say this because I saw it happen with Eddy Curry. Always an outlier but it involves re-hiring Chris Duhon.

Giddey's fifth NBA season ain't some project to unpack, in 2024-25 his rookie 20-year old teammate was better at movement and recognition. Now we'll watch Matas Buzelis throughout his 20s, earning two fouls in the first two minutes of every half because Josh Giddey wanted to guard with his eyes again.

The Bulls did not win any negotiation, keeping Josh Giddey from $30 million. Teams don't want to pay Josh Giddey $10 million per season because gross and because (most) NBA teams recognize fielding Josh Giddey means turning over the shape of your lineup over to Josh Giddey, no matter what percentage of the cap his salary takes up.

Every other floor participant must be considered with Giddey in diligent mind, ways Bulls fans wouldn't to worry about if a typical replacement-level point guard (a real Tre Jones-type) were in charge full-time.

And then the usage, my goodness, the usage.

Money ain't the problem. Time, commitment, that's our issue in Chicago. The Bulls committed to the idea of Giddey's potential, welcoming the burden of making an All-Star out of Josh Giddey. Accepting his unorthodox point guard style, bringing the best out of a performer clearly rattled by the thought of stopping NBA players. Or hunching.

Josh Giddey was the only example of roster consternation among the NBA's 2023-24 elite eight. The Bulls stepped into taking over that problem with the sort of aplomb suggesting an interest in self-preservation ahead of doing right by people deserving of best efforts at creating a championship basketball team.

These deserving people can tell what a champion is because they've seen one, or six.

And they can't tell what the best effort is, because they ain't seen it yet.

That's it, Bulls fans. You're just sitting through someone's time at their job.

All summer I've thought about the East, how much I can talk myself into any scenario in that bracket, any trade deadline uproar, any miracle postseason run. Even if the favorites – Cavs, Knicks – are behind all the intrigue and are-you-watching-this drama, it still screams fun.

Every outfit bursts with opportunity, fresh knowledge of what the Pacers put in last spring and the insistence that they can rise to this level of awareness, too.

Not ... not da Bulls.

Everyone is a contender but Chicago. I might drive to Finals in Atlanta or Orlando. Passport needs updated if Toronto makes a big deal. Can I find somewhere to park in Boston? Will James Dolan's facial recognition let me into an MSG building after my "unsteady, alarming appearance" attending those Dukes of September shows? Detroit is right there: Thruncan is the new Threasley.

This might be the bracket best suited for Doc Rivers, because Doc might have to start at Bucks' point guard. Charlotte and Washington might be two trades away, Miami is Miami, the Pacers don't stop, and Joel Embiid practices without a knee brace. Wouldn't put past any of them to represent the East in June.

Chicago can only be there if everything goes right, an embarrassment amid this weakened field. The Bulls watched every Eastern Conference knockout literally limp to each respective finish line last spring and summer, decided to continue apace. Why let a wide-open Eastern Conference (read: four playoff rounds' worth of revenue) evoke anything?

Additionally, Josh Giddey puts a cap on how much his NBA team can win. That can be a bummer, I wish basketball were also mostly about long rebounds and heaving passes and end-to-end hoop, but the NBA is about spacing and marksmanship and identifying the easiest space to run, right, on, past.

Josh's presence diminishes his four teammates when he gives up the ball, even if his defender finishes the possession in an unsuccessful dash to close out on a swished Josh Giddey three-pointer.

Giddey can be the lead piece on a championship contender, but only among the same outsized qualifiers as DeMar DeRozan's star turn in Chicago. Every teammate must be exquisite. All-world defenders, volume outside shooters popping over 40 precent, nobody else even looks at a two-pointer. DeMar didn't get that. Giddey ain't got that.

So this is my Giddey column. Coulda chimed in with five different angles, something for every reader, old trades or big futures or maybe a soft-rimmed tale from my past, swishing baskets at Muswellbrook in the final hours of the last century.

I had all summer for this email. Owned the wide-open expanse of the NBA offseason to create and instead came through with what was expected. September and somewhere between $20 and $30 million, Kelly stays angry.

The Bulls had all summer to prove us wrong. To drag other groups in, to son the Sacramento Kings, to turn disparate individual hopes (Huerters' & Collins' & Williams') into trade assets. A small step up in several sensible directions.

But, no. Huerter and Collins represent "we were right about Zach LaVine, every second of it," and Huerter and Collins are valued as such. Williams represents how well the Bulls nailed the Patrick Williams pick (and contract extension negotiation), gotta stay that course. Josh Giddey represents the zero first-round draft picks the Bulls pulled in return for another team's proven perfect answer, Alex Caruso.

Josh Giddey now makes $25 million a year and will play over 30 minutes a game and the Bulls will pretend he is the sort of player to trade several first-round draft picks for. Representative of the bounty Alex Caruso returns, if anyone else in the NBA were running the Bulls.

But the Bulls run the Bulls, and that's been a problem for the Bulls unless the Bulls have Michael Jordan at shooting guard.

And even then.

THE EAST

I didn't even talk about the West. Wal-Mart made tremendous moves. The Lakers might not be cheap, and might get help when LeBron picks a trade to some other Western contender. The Wolves might click, the Clippers might circle wagons and shut us all up. I'm pretty sure the Rockets will sweep the Thunder, or the other way around, I can't tell.

YOU SAID 'THE EAST'

They're good too! Eastern time, 9 PM-ish, figure out those passwords.

Regular season will be on it. Night-to-night parity will be the business. These are the games with Frank Reich and the seasons with Jeff Hostetler at the helm, Young in for Montana. We'll see repeated exhibitions of the difference between an All-Star and superstar, but even more instances of every other NBA player reminding us how darn good they are at this, night after night in winter.

The Bulls are also very entertaining, with the guard position rotating between Ayo and Coby and Jones and however the heck Giddey spins the ball.

If it feels like the Bulls are alone in this, it is because they are. Theirs is an enclave, the rest of the NBA exists outside. Bulls visits to actual NBA organizations are more exhibitions than anything. Look at those red uniforms! Remember that year they played us in the playoffs with Jordan?

If you feel too cynical or frustrated to enjoy a Bulls game – Ayo and White aren't long for this team – that's only you refusing to believe that this thing barking "arf" is some cat on the prowl. Maybe when White and Ayo leave the Bulls will use the space to locate the suitable four players to surround Josh Giddey's quirks.

Until then, I feel like we have to be the team with Mark Jackson. Every other team gets to have a normal point guard, but we have to have modern Mark Jackson.

I HAD MY FUN

Good Bulls teams and good Bears teams and good phones with cords. Hard to find.

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