After months of not-really-contentious negotiations, the Chicago Bulls signed Josh Giddey to a four-year, $100 million contract, cementing his status as the franchise's future at the point guard spot. Chicago was linked to Golden State Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga at several points this summer, but based on their respective reported contract demands, choosing Giddey was the right call.
Kuminga is one of the NBA's "big four" restricted free agents this offseason, along with Giddey, Cam Thomas of the Brooklyn Nets and Quentin Grimes of the Philadelphia 76ers. Kuminga and Grimes' futures are still up in the air, but Golden State's negotiations with its young forward have been far more combative than the others.
Kuminga is, understandably, aiming for long-term financial security and a bigger offensive role than he's had under Steve Kerr during his first four seasons, but he's so far naively and stubbornly refused to accept any offer the Warriors have sent his way, something that should only validate the Bulls' decision.
Jonathan Kuminga's contract demands are too wild for the Chicago Bulls
Anthony Slater and Shams Charania of ESPN relayed earlier this week that Golden State has presented Kuminga with three different options: a fully guaranteed three-year, $54 million deal, a two-year, $45 million deal with a team option on the second season that would require Kuminga to waive what is essentially a no-trade clause, and most recently a three-year, $75.2 million deal, again with a team option on the final season.
Kuminga doesn't want a team option included in any new contract, and the Warriors have refused to drop it. Golden State, in essence, is trying to create a tradeable agreement.
Kuminga's agent, Aaron Turner, hopped on the latest edition of The Hoop Collective Podcast to give his take on the long-running ordeal and explain why his side is prepared to accept a one-year $7.9 million qualifying offer and rejoin the market as an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Turner also shot down reports that Golden State had offered Kuminga a five-year, $150 million extension last summer after Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer claimed he was looking for a max deal in the $35 million per season range. Slater revealed that the Warriors' 2024 offer topped out at $30 million -- the same number that's been tossed around as Kuminga's eventual goal.
It's hard to believe that if Golden State offered any contract worth $30 million annually, Kuminga and Turner would've refused to sign it. Regardless, he and the Warriors remain oceans away from any pact, and it feels like neither side is incredibly interested in extending their relationship.
Giddey, on the other hand, agreed to a perfect compromise between the $20 million per year the Bulls wanted to pay him and the $30 million per year he craved. There wasn't much public drama, and Chicago is arguably better off holding onto a 22-year-old point guard on the rise, anyway. The Kuminga negotiations have been messy, and he hasn't shown the level of growth and consistency Giddey did last season.
The Bulls still have ways to add Kuminga if they want to. If the four-year pro decides to accept his qualifying offer (which is looking increasingly likely), Chicago can simply sign him outright as an unrestricted free agent next summer when it has the most available cap space in the NBA.
But this saga should make the Bulls' brass feel perfectly content in their decision to hold onto Giddey rather than going through this messy process with Kuminga.