Josh Giddey Reached Another Ridiculous Milestone for the Chicago Bulls

The Toronto Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers weren't going to let Josh Giddey find the bottom of the net. Two teams overflowing with long perimeter defenders, the guard struggled to fight through contact and get into the teeth of the defense. It's why he ended with a modest 9 points in each outing, as well as why the Bulls ultimately struggled to keep both games competitive.

Nevertheless, to the guard's credit, he still managed to reach another new milestone. With little going his way in the scoring department, he continued to focus on setting up his teammates. The guard would reach 12 assists in the first half alone against the Cavaliers – marking the most in any half of his career.

To little surprise, this also set Giddey up for a new career-high by the time the buzzer sounded. The 23-year-old walked off the United Center court with 19 dimes. The performance came a little over a week after Giddey set his previous career high of 17 assists against the Golden State Warriors in an OT win.

Josh Giddey Joins Short List of Bulls

Josh Giddey of the Chicago Bulls — Feb 26, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey (3) looks to pass the ball against the Portland Trail Blazers during the first half of an NBA game at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Giddey is now only the fourth player in Chicago Bulls history to reach the 19-assist threshold. The last time the organization saw this happen was during the 1983-84 campaign, when Ennis Whatley pulled it off. Guy Rodgers and Clem Haskins are the only other Bulls to make the list.

So, what does that make the franchise record for assists in a game? Believe it or not, Giddey was still a handful of dishes away on Thursday night. Rodgers sits alone at the top of the Bulls' ranks with 24 assists in 1966.

Here are the marks that Giddey is still chasing (h/t Bulls PR):

Guy Rodgers - 24 assists (12/21/66)
Ennis Whatley - 22 assists (3/3/84)
Ennis Whatley - 22 assists (1/14/84)
Clem Haskins - 21 assists (12/6/69)
Guy Rodgers - 21 assists (10/18/66)
Ennis Whatley - 21 assists (2/23/85)
Josh Giddey - 19 assists (3/19/26)
Clem Haskins - 19 assists (11/15/69)

If we look at things from a league-wide perspective, Giddey is now part of a club that features 101 players from throughout NBA history. He joins Isaiah Collier as being the only two players to do it during the 2025-26 campaign. Who did it the most times during the course of their career? John Stockton takes the cake with a mind-boggling 60 games with 19+ dimes.

Look, I think we can all agree the vibes for the Chicago Bulls right now are pretty darn bad. There is also no question that Giddey dishing his career-high in a mostly ugly loss takes away some of the fun. But, hey, it still speaks to why the Bulls have decided to build with him in mind. He may be far from a perfect player, but the guard has the kind of elite distributing ability that this franchise hasn't seen in a very long time.

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