Bulls Notes: Giddey, White, Vucevic, Smith, Phillips

Bulls guard Josh Giddey is nearing the end of his rookie contract and will be one of the most interesting restricted free agents to monitor this offseason. While appearing on an episode of Nothing But Net with ESPN’s Kane Pitman (Twitter video link), Brian Windhorst pointed to Immanuel Quickley‘s five-year, $162.5MM contract as a deal that Giddey’s camp figures to use as a point of comparison.

While Giddey likely won’t get quite that much money, $30MM annually seems to be about the going rate for starting point guards in the league now. Reporting last fall indicated that the Bulls guard was seeking $30MM per year on a rookie scale extension.

However, Giddey’s restricted free agency might not play out that simply. As Windhorst observes, if Giddey doesn’t receive an offer sheet worth signing from a rival suitor, the Bulls could potentially play hardball. In that scenario, the 22-year-old would have the option of signing his one-year qualifying offer and reaching the market again the following year as an unrestricted free agent.

Windhorst also points out that the Bulls recently re-signed point guard Lonzo Ball to an extension, which could improve their leverage in the Giddey negotiations. However, since the Bulls traded Alex Caruso for Giddey, they likely view him as part of their long-term future. After having a similar situation play out last year with restricted free agent Patrick Williams, all signs point toward an extension of some kind.

Since Giddey received an expanded role, he’s averaging 20.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.9 blocks in his last 15 games. He’s currently sidelined with an ankle injury.

We have more on the Bulls:

• According to coach Billy Donovan (Twitter link via Chicago Sports Network’s K.C. Johnson), Giddey will travel for the start of the six-game road trip while continuing rehab on his ankle. In a follow-up tweet, Johnson reports that Giddey said he’s happy with how his recovery is going and that there’s optimism he’ll return on the trip.
• Coby White scored a career-high 44 points in a game earlier in March and his strong play over the past two seasons has been a result of his evolution into a multi-layered scorer, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. “From where I was with him, from his first year to now is amazing,” Donovan said. “He deserves all the credit because he is a guy who never points fingers, never blames, always looks internally, ‘How do I get better?’ He’s really made a strong investment to himself [and] the game.” White’s arsenal of shots has expanded since he entered the league as primarily a shooter and he has improved significantly as a finisher around the basket, Mayberry notes.
• After missing seven games due to a calf injury, Nikola Vucevic came off the bench for the Bulls’ game against the Pacers on Monday. He returned to the starting lineup on Thursday, according to Johnson, but he’s currently on a restriction of 28-30 minutes per night. With Vucevic back in the lineup for the past two games, Jalen Smith has been the odd man out of the frontcourt rotation, Johnson adds (Twitter link).
• Julian Phillips was the first man off the bench, ahead of Williams, in the Bulls’ Thursday win over the Nets. Phillips responded with a career-high 16 points to go along with seven rebounds and five assists while playing as part of the closing lineup, Johnson observes in a series of tweets. The Bulls are on a four-game win streak.