Taj Gibson has been a member of the Bulls since being drafted by the team back in 2009, but he’s on track to become an unrestricted free agent for the first time next summer. Per K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune, Gibson and the Bulls have mutual interest in continuing their relationship, with the veteran big man telling Johnson, “Of course I want to stay here.”
“The basketball gods always reward you. Just stay the course,” Gibson said. “I always just do my job and never be a distraction for my team. I’m blessed to be here a long time. I remember over the years a lot of trade rumors, a lot of times I thought I wasn’t going to make it through. They stayed with me. It speaks to my character.”
As for the Bulls, according to Johnson, team management wants to bring back Gibson next year, and felt that way even before young power forward Bobby Portis got off to a slow start this season. Head coach Fred Hoiberg calls Gibson “a rock” for the franchise, according to Mark Strotman of CSNChicago.com, who compares the longtime Bulls power forward to Udonis Haslem on the Heat.
Because he signed his current deal back in 2012, Gibson is one of about two dozen NBA players eligible for a contract extension during the season. Johnson doesn’t mention an in-season extension as a possibility for Gibson, and those deals are rare, but it’s something the two sides could explore at some point.
Chicago doesn’t currently have any cap room, meaning the team couldn’t offer Gibson a significant raise on a new in-season deal. The former USC standout is earning $8,950,000 this season, and could get a 7.5% raise on an extension, which would mean a starting salary worth $9,621,250 and up to three new years.
Gibson will be 32 next June, so his odds of landing a massive four- or five-year contract in free agency may not be great, but after seeing the sort of deals that less talented players received on the open market this past summer, he may want to wait and see what’s out there. As Johnson notes, Gibson “knows he took somewhat of a hometown discount” last time around, so even though he wants to remain with the Bulls, it’s not clear if he’ll give the team that sort of discount again.
As our list of 2017 free agents by team shows, Gibson could be the only unrestricted free agent on the Bulls next summer, though five other players have team or player options, or are eligible for restricted free agency.