Harsh Truth on Potential Josh Giddey, Warriors Trade: Report

After moves like Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets and Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic have changed the landscape of the NBA offseason, there are still a few free agents out there who have the chance to make major changes in the NBA going into next year.

This is about the four restricted free agents this offseason in Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey, Quentin Grimes, and Cam Thomas. All four players are quality starting-caliber players, but there are no teams that can offer competitive offer sheets to them. Therefore, these players are all stuck negotiating against themselves with their respective teams.

Josh Giddey's Situation

Bulls Anchored To $20M Per Year For Josh Giddey https://t.co/Fmd8gbUYU1
— RealGM (@RealGM) August 10, 2025

In terms of play during the 2024-25 season, Giddey's production was arguably the best out of the four. Especially after the All-Star break, Giddey was putting up numbers that would have him in discussions to be an All-Star in the Eastern Conference.

Looking at Giddey's negotiations, the reporting has remained consistent, with Giddey and his camp looking for something in the $30 million range annually, while the Bulls are staying put in that $20 million range annually. However, as mentioned, the Bulls have all the leverage here, unless Giddey signs the qualifying offer and tries to leave in 2026 free agency.

The Warriors were 1 pick away from Josh Giddey in 2021 👀

The Thunder grabbed him at No. 6, and Golden State pivoted to Jonathan Kuminga at No. 7.

Fast forward to 2025: Kuminga’s got a ring, but never the keys. A rocky stint in the Bay has left him in limbo, but the Bulls can… pic.twitter.com/fLNW2AMr9q
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 8, 2025

Amid all of this, NBA fans were shocked last week to learn that the Golden State Warriors have expressed interest in Giddey, despite dealing with their own free agent problems with Kuminga. While this report got Warriors fans dreaming of what a Giddey and Steph Curry backcourt could look like, the reality is that a move to land him is not as easy as swapping free agents.

As shared by NBA insider Jake Fischer in a follow-up report, Golden State fans should hold off on the hypothetical. "But Golden State's interest in Giddey is genuine... I'm told that the Warriors continue to value Giddey's skillset and have communicated their interest to the Australian point guard's representation. There simply does not appear to be a feasible pathway to such a trade..."

Josh Giddey over the last 11 games:

22.3 PPG
10.5 RPG
9.1 APG
1.7 SPG
53.1% FG
52.2% 3P
84.5% FT

Playing like an All-Star. 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/pCvDCSduzG
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) March 23, 2025

Fischer went on to add, pointing toward the base-year compensation rule that is keeping Golden State's sign-and-trade options limited. "The base-year compensation issue alone makes it challenging before we even get to the limited salary-matching and outgoing player flexibility that Golden State is currently facing," he added.

Unless Golden State is willing to offload Draymond Green in a deal for Giddey, which seems highly unlikely, it seems as though the Giddey rumors can be put to rest.

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