Bulls' Josh Giddey negotiations might be held up by East rival's 2024 move

The Chicago Bulls have had an interesting offseason, and they still need to work out a deal with their restricted free agent.

Over the past few weeks, the Bulls haven’t done much. While the team has extended head coach Billy Donovan’s deal, there haven’t been many other notable moves from the historic franchise.

Of course, any big moves the Bulls might want to make could be getting held up by the restricted free agency of Josh Giddey. Last summer, the Bulls sent Alex Caruso to Oklahoma City to acquire the 2021 No. 6 overall pick, and he had a solid first season with the squad.

Considering the Thunder just won a championship with Caruso, the Bulls must extend Giddey to avoid being a big loser in that deal. While plenty of things have held up Giddey’s negotiations, one of the under-the-radar pieces of the puzzle could be Immanuel Quickley’s recent extension. 

Last summer, Quickley signed a five-year, $175 million deal to stay with the Toronto Raptors. Considering he and Giddey are typically seen as similar caliber players, that deal might be having a big impact on this summer’s negotiations in Chicago, as explained by ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

“Certainly, Josh Giddey’s like, ‘I want that contract there,’” Marks said. “That number has screwed up a lot of things.”

Marks also went on to say that he felt like the Raptors weren’t criticized enough for that deal at the time. Considering this year’s restricted free agency market, Quickley might have been lucky to come up for a new contract in 2024 instead of 2025.

On the other hand, Giddey is still trying to figure out his future in Chicago with training camp less than two months away.