Sources: Josh Giddey Expected to Stay With Chicago Bulls—Can He Become a Fantasy Star?
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Considering the weirdness surrounding the 2025 NBA restricted free agent landscape, this was inevitable:
“Josh Giddey and the Chicago Bulls are expected to reach a resolution on a new contract, likely in the three-year range, by the end of August. The Bulls could increase their offer, but they have stood firm on keeping a new deal in the $20 million AAV range. The latest speculation from agents not involved in negotiations suggests something in the $65 million to $70 million range.Brett Siegel, Clutch Points
If Siegel is on target, the Bulls starting backcourt of Giddey and Coby White suddenly becomes one of the most interesting duos of the 2025-26 NBA fantasy season.
Giddey’s Strong Finish
The first two-thirds of Giddey’s maiden season in Chicago wasn’t great—but that shouldn’t have been a shocker, as the last 12 months of Giddey’s final year in Oklahoma City wasn’t great, either.
The Aussie was a fantasy hoops darling in his first two seasons in the Association, averaging 14.9 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game for the Thunder, which, in the language of DFS, translates to 34.1 DraftKings points and 33.7 FanDuel points.
Year-three saw a significant drop-off, as the combo guard managed 12.3 points, 6.4 boards, and 4.6 assists, giving him a DK average of 27.6 and an FD average of 26.5.
Granted, the drop in production can be somewhat attributed to Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s ascention to superstardom…the key word there being somewhat. We saw regression in Giddey, SGA notwithstanding, hard stop.
Different story for his year-one in Chicago, when he delivered career highs in rebounds (8.1) and assists (7.2), while throwing down 14.6 points per night. Perhaps Giddey’s most heartening stat was his 37.8% shooting from behind the arc, a career tops and a semi-refutation of his reputation as a terrible three-point marksman.
Now he’s a mediocre marksman. Hey, don’t roll your eyes—improvement is improvement.
Anyhoobs, the Bulls iteration of Giddey proved he’s a threat to deliver a triple-double on a nightly basis—last season, in he put together seven of ‘em in 70 games—so when he had a plus-matchup, his DFS value was straight-up elite.
That Was Then…
Will Giddey—who turns 23 in October—take another statistical step forward, or will he revert to the form that compelled the Thunder to ship him out of town?
On the plus side, Giddey will be in a near-identical situation as last season. The only off-season additions to Chicago’s roster were former Cleveland Cavalier Isaac Okoro, a defensive-minded wing whose presence won’t impact Giddey’s usage percentage, and Noa Essengue, a raw rookie who will likely spend the season bouncing between the NBA and the G-League.
It would stand to reason that a nearly-identical set of teammates should equal nearly-identical digits.
Also on the plus side—because it could be said that there’s no minus side—considering the growth Giddey showed us between 2023-24 and 2024-25, another step forward could well be a thing. After all, over the final 20 games of last season, we saw a notable uptick in numbers, to the tune of 20.8 points, 8.8 boards, and 7.8 assists.
For context, Scottie Pippen finished the 1993-94 season—an MVP-level year that was among the finest campaigns of his career—averaging 22.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 5.6 assists. And newsflash: Scottie Pippen is a Hall of Famer.
Yeah, Giddey isn’t, never was, and never will be Pippen—Scottie was a legit one-of-a-kind—but Josh's end-of-2025 numbers are undeniable.
The Verdict
Giddey heads into the 2025-26 season armed with a new contract, statistical tailwinds, a virtually identical roster, and another year of experience under his belt, factors that very much make him worthy of second- or third-round consideration in your season-long fantasy hoops draft.
Josh Giddey is putting in WORK this offseason 🔥pic.twitter.com/4PRqljvl2S
— Bulls on CHSN (@CHSN_Bulls) July 10, 2025
So let's all say it together: Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi.
More Chicago Bulls Hot Takes On Fantasy Sports On SI
-82121a1351894b8089c555f4b4b69420-1d609352940036e7455770363a74a2e9.png "Alan Goldsher")
Alan Goldsher has written about sports for Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Apple, Playboy, NFL.com, and NBA.com, and he’s the creator of the Chicago Sports Stuff Substack. He’s the bestselling author of 15 books, and the founder/CEO of Gold Note Records. Alan lives in Chicago, where he writes, makes music, and consumes and creates way too much Bears content. You can visit him at http://www.AlanGoldsher.com and http://x.com/AlanGoldsher.