Josh Giddey

Injury Updates: Jokic, Murray, Hachimura, Giddey, Ball, Robinson

March 19th, 2025 at 9:49pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Nuggets are missing Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray for Wednesday’s matchup with the Lakers, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Both players also sat out Monday’s win at Golden State.

Jokic has a left ankle impingement as well as a contusion on his right elbow. Murray is dealing with a sprained right ankle and had difficulty moving during a session with assistant coach John Beckett more than two hours before the game, according to MacMahon.

During a pregame meeting with the media before the final determinations were made, coach Michael Malone said, “you listen to your body,” adding that he trusts the players and training staff to make the right decisions. He reacted angrily to a suggestion that the Nuggets are intentionally resting their best players.

“I think that’s just a bunch of bulls–t,” Malone said. “I mean, in the last 10 years, Nikola Jokic has played the second most games in the NBA. Ten years. And the guys in that top 10, none of them are superstars. So if Nikola is not playing, it’s not because he’s sitting. It’s not because he needs rest. It’s because he’s hurt and he’s trying to play through things that most wouldn’t. We’re at a point right now where we have to do what’s best for not just Nikola, but for all our guys, as we move forward and try to close out this season.”

There’s more injury news to pass along:

Lakers forward Rui Hachimura is sitting out his eighth straight game tonight due to tendinopathy in his left knee, but coach J.J. Redick said he’s making progress and is considered day-to-day, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link). Hachimura has been taking part in three-on-three scrimmages and participated in warm-ups before tonight’s contest.
Bulls guard Josh Giddey, who had been sidelined since March 10 with a sprained right ankle, is making his return in Wednesday’s game at Phoenix. Coach Billy Donovan plans to give Giddey his normal workload of 30-32 minutes and said he may play again Thursday at Sacramento, tweets K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network.
Lonzo Ball didn’t accompany the Bulls on their six-game road trip, but he has started shooting with his injured wrist, Johnson adds (Twitter link). Donovan said Ball, who sprained the wrist in late February, still has a long road toward recovery.
Knicks center Mitchell Robinson remains on a minutes restriction after returning last month from ankle surgery, but coach Tom Thibodeau views it as more of a guideline than a definite policy, per James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link). Thibodeau said the limit is around 24 minutes, which is what Robinson played Monday night, but he’s willing to extend it depending on how his center feels.

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

March 13th, 2025 at 10:33pm CST by Tristan Tucker

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.

Injury Notes: Williams, Giddey, Porzingis, LeBron

March 12th, 2025 at 10:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

After suffering a hip strain in the second half of a victory over Denver on Monday, Thunder All-Star forward Jalen Williams was ruled out for Wednesday’s road contest against Boston, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). Aaron Wiggins drew the start in Williams’ absence

With their 118-112 win over Boston on Wednesday, the Thunder have ensured they’ll avoid the play-in tournament in the West, having clinched a top-six playoff spot, per the NBA (via Twitter).

According to Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link), Williams didn’t travel with the Thunder as they embarked on a three-game road trip. Reigning Coach of the Year Mark Daigneault indicated on Wednesday that the team has yet to determine a recovery timeline for the 6’5″ forward.

Here are a few more health-related updates from around the NBA:

Bulls guard Josh Giddey sprained his right ankle in the fourth quarter of an eventual 121-103 win over Indiana on Monday. The 6’8″ pro, a restricted free agent this summer, was in a walking boot briefly to stabilize the ankle, but head coach Billy Donovan revealed that he is now out of the boot, per KC Johnson of Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link). Although Giddey is recovering well, Donovan said that he expected him to “be out for a little bit.” Johnson tweets that the fourth-year guard is engaging in toe raises and walking, but has no return timeline until Chicago brass can gauge how he holds up in on-court workouts. Giddey indicated that he will travel with the team for its upcoming road trip, according to Johnson (via Twitter).
In the loss to Oklahoma City on Wednesday, Celtics starting center Kristaps Porzingis sat out his seventh straight game due to a viral illness, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link). Porzingis was originally listed as questionable before being ruled out a couple hours prior to tip-off. Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters pregame that he did not have a sense of when the 7’2″ big man would be available, with the postseason just a month away. 38-year-old veteran big man Al Horford started in Porzingis’ stead.
A medical recommendation prompted 21-time All-Star Lakers forward LeBron James to depart L.A.’s road trip and return home for further treatment on his groin strain, sources inform Shams Charania of ESPN. Los Angeles will wrap up the road trip with games in Milwaukee and Denver on Thursday and Friday, respectively. James exited the Lakers’ Saturday loss to Boston in the fourth quarter, and reports have indicated that he’ll miss at least one or two weeks with the injury.

Bulls’ Josh Giddey Sprains Right Ankle

March 11th, 2025 at 7:48am CST by Luke Adams

Bulls point guard Josh Giddey exited Monday’s win over Indiana with over seven minutes left in the fourth quarter after rolling his right ankle. The Bulls subsequently ruled him out for the rest of the contest due to an ankle sprain.

The injury occurred after a shot attempt near the basket when Giddey’s right foot landed on the foot of Pacers wing Ben Sheppard (Twitter video link). The Bulls guard immediately limped off the court and headed to the locker room.

The ankle is the same one that Giddey injured while playing for the Australian national team at the Olympics last summer. He was in a walking boot after the game, tweets K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network.

“He had a game a couple games ago where he kind of rolled it a little bit, but not too bad,” head coach Billy Donovan said on Monday night, per The Associated Press. “This one you could just tell, it was pretty painful the way he came up. So, obviously I’m concerned, but I just don’t know to what degree it is.”

Donovan said it may take “a day or two” before the Bulls have a clearer picture of the severity of the sprain.

It’s unfortunate timing for Giddey, who has been playing some of the best basketball of his career in recent weeks and scored a season-high 29 points on Monday. In nine games since the All-Star break, the 22-year-old has averaged 23.1 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 8.4 assists per game, with a .522/.525/.865 shooting line.

“He’s been really good at playing to his strengths,” Donovan said of his point guard, according to Annie Constabile of The Chicago Sun-Times. “He’s really balanced his ability to pass the ball, and then his ability to score. The shots he’s getting and generating, the shots he’s looking to take, are higher-quality shots for him.”

Giddey will be eligible for restricted free agency this summer. Although he got off to a shaky start in his first year as a Bull, scoring just 11.2 PPG on .432/.319/.744 shooting in his first 39 games, his uptick in production over the past month or two has increased his value heading into the offseason and has likely helped cement his place as a building block in Chicago going forward.

“I’ll let (the front office) handle that,” Donovan said of Giddey’s contract situation. “(I) certainly have had conversations with Josh about it. But I think the idea of trading for him and having him come here was going to be for him to be here on an extended period of time. … Everybody here feels good about Josh as a player — what he’s been able to do and hopefully what he can continue to do.”

Central Notes: Thompson, Collins, Vucevic, Giddey

March 9th, 2025 at 4:04pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Second-year Pistons forward Ausar Thompson has established himself as a talented young defender, but he’s not satisfied with his development on either side of the ball, as he told Mark Medina of Sportskeeda. Thompson’s growth has been one of the components of the club’s ascent to postseason contender this season. At 35-29, Detroit is currently the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference.

“I feel like since I’ve played basketball, I’ve never wanted my man to score on me,” Thompson said. “Never have and never will. I definitely take it personally.”

Thompson, who was a finalist for February’s Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month award, noted that he has been putting in consistent shooting work with Pistons assistant coach Fred Vinson this season, and broke down the specific foci of their approach.

“I’m trying to shoot with more arc,” Thompson said. “I’m trying to stop misses from going left to right. I’m shooting it with confidence. We work on it every day.”

Thompson did acknowledge that opposing defenses don’t necessarily fear him just yet, instead giving him plenty of space on long-range jumpers. This year, the 22-year-old swingman is connecting on just 21.2% of his 0.8 attempts per game beyond the arc.

“They want to let me shoot,” Thompson said. “I feel like they don’t think they can guard me if they step up. That’s how I like to view it. So I’m going to keep going.”

There’s more out of the Central Division:

Whenever Bulls center Nikola Vucevic returns from a calf injury, reserve Zach Collins is hoping he can be employed in two-big lineups alongside Vucevic, notes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “I always hope it happens,” Collins said this weekend. “I enjoy playing with another big guy on the court, whether it’s a four or five, being able to interchange.” Head coach Billy Donovan has at least expressed some interest in exploring a jumbo-sized Collins-Vucevic tandem at times. “It’s something I’ve thought about and talked about, but since the [All-Star] break, we just haven’t been whole,” Donovan said.
Although the 34-year-old Vucevic was ultimately not traded from Chicago this season, it could still happen this summer. Should the Bulls move on from the former All-Star, Cowley wonders if new acquisition Collins has shown enough to perhaps replace Vucevic as the team’s next starting five. The 6’11” big man has averaged 12.7 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.5 blocks in his 10 games with Chicago. The Bulls have gone 4-6 in those bouts.
Bulls guard Josh Giddey, a restricted free agent this summer, helped power Chicago to a surprise 17-point comeback victory against Miami on Saturday, Cowley writes in another Sun-Times story. In the win, Giddey logged a 26-point, 12-assist, 10-rebound triple-double that included some clutch late buckets. “Guys being out has kind of made us shift lineups around, being able to guard multiple positions, play multiple positions offensively,” Giddey said. “Just being versatile and flexible to whatever is out there… Confidence is a big thing.”
In case you missed it, the Cavaliers‘ deadline trade to acquire forward De’Andre Hunter has given head coach Kenny Atkinson new flexibility in his closing lineups. Although Atkinson sometimes opts to play Hunter and bench starting center Jarrett Allen in these moments, Allen says he doesn’t mind.

Bulls Notes: Collins, Buzelis, Giddey, Williams

February 28th, 2025 at 1:05pm CST by Arthur Hill

Injuries left Zach Collins as the Bulls‘ only remaining option at center for the past two games, resulting in a lot of minutes for the newly acquired big man, writes Julia Poe of The Chicago Tribune. With Nikola Vucevic out of action to “proactively” rest a calf injury and Jalen Smith in concussion protocol, Collins made two straight starts, logging 28 minutes in Monday’s contest and 38 on Wednesday.

“I’m tired,” joked Collins, who was only averaging 11.8 minutes off the bench in San Antonio before being traded earlier this month. “I guess I’m getting all the minutes I want.”

Poe notes that Collins has faced a challenging adjustment moving into coach Billy Donovan’s up-tempo approach, which has been necessary because of the team’s overall lack of size. Collins has played well enough since the deal that Donovan indicated he might use some double-big lineups when Vucevic and Smith are healthy. That could happen soon, as K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network tweeted that Smith participated in this morning’s shootaround.

Collins is also working to solidify his future with the Bulls, who are expected to try again this summer to trade Vucevic.

“You want to help put your team in a position to win,” Collins said. “Great individual games don’t really mean much if you can’t get the win.”

There’s more from Chicago:

Suns star Kevin Durant was impressed by rookie forward Matas Buzelis when the teams met last weekend, Poe adds in a separate story. Buzelis wasn’t intimidated in his matchup with an NBA legend, posting 15 points and three rebounds in 24 minutes. “I like Matas,” Durant said. “I liked him when he was with the G League Ignite. He’s long, athletic and can shoot it. He is definitely going to have some bumps and bruises as he gets through these first few years in the league trying to figure stuff out. The more experience, the more reps he gets on the floor as a starter, the better he’ll become.”
The Bulls shouldn’t be fooled by Josh Giddey‘s recent hot streak, Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic states in a mailbag column. Giddey is averaging 19.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.3 steals per game since the trade deadline while shooting 52.3% from the field and 62.5% from three-point range. However, Mayberry points out that Giddey, who will be a restricted free agent this summer, is playing for his next contract. Mayberry urges the front office to let the process play out with Giddey and not repeat last year’s mistake with Patrick Williams, who was re-signed before he could negotiate with other teams.
In the same piece, Mayberry expresses skepticism that any team will be willing to trade for Williams, who has four years and $72MM left on his current deal.

Bulls Notes: Giddey, Vucevic, Dosunmu, Ball

February 25th, 2025 at 8:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Josh Giddey knows he’s pumped up his value with his strong play this season. The Bulls guard will enter restricted free agency this summer and admitted to the Chicago Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley that he’s wondering how it will play out.

‘‘I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about it,’’ Giddey said. ‘‘Every player in the league thinks about it, but I don’t let it impact what I do on the floor. I don’t come out here with any preconceived ideas of how I want to play or the numbers I want to put up to earn X amount of dollars or whatever it may be.’’

The Bulls were unable to come to a rookie scale extension agreement with Giddey after acquiring him from the Thunder last offseason. Giddey and his representatives indicated at that time they were looking to match Magic guard Jalen Suggs’ extension of $30MM per year for five years, Cowley confirms. The Bulls will have the ability to match if Giddey signs an offer sheet this summer.

We have more on the Bulls:

One of the things Giddey has improved upon is his long-range shooting, Cowley notes. The fourth-year guard has made 37% of his 3-point attempts, up from 33.7% in his last season with Oklahoma City. He knocked down all three of his attempts in the blowout victory over Philadelphia on Monday, improving his percentage to a whopping 52.2% this month. “Obviously, you feel good when shots start falling, and it can have a snowball effect. That’s where I’m probably at right now,” he said.
Starting center Nikola Vucevic is listed as doubtful to play against the Clippers on Wednesday due to right calf tightness, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network tweets. Guard Ayo Dosunmu is questionable due to a left shoulder subluxation.
Lonzo Ball is not listed on the injury report. That was a positive development, considering he departed Monday’s game early due to a head laceration, the team tweets.

Josh Giddey Is Only 2025 RFA To Meet Starter Criteria So Far

February 25th, 2025 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

When a player on an expiring contract is eligible for restricted free agency, his qualifying offer is determined in part by whether or not he met the “starter criteria” during the season – or two seasons – leading up to his free agency. As we explain in our glossary entry, a player meets the starter criteria when he achieves one of the following:

He plays at least 2,000 minutes or starts 41 games in the season before he reaches free agency.
He averages either 2,000 minutes or 41 starts in the two seasons prior to his restricted free agency.

If a top-14 pick coming to the end of his rookie contract fails to meet the starter criteria, the value of his qualifying offer declines. Conversely a player who was drafted at No. 10 or later or who went undrafted altogether can increase the value of his qualifying offer by meeting the starter criteria.

In many cases, an increase or decrease to a qualifying offer won’t materially affect the player’s restricted free agency, since a QO is just a one-year contract offer issued in order for the team to retain its right of first refusal. The player has the option of accepting it, but in most cases it functions as a placeholder until the RFA signs an offer sheet with a rival team or negotiates a new multiyear contract with his current team.

Warriors forward Jonathan Kuminga, for example, will likely sign a lucrative long-term deal when he reaches free agency this summer, so it won’t matter all that much if he falls short of the starter criteria and his QO drops from the standard amount of $10,240,287 to $7,976,830.

But for a player who is less likely to secure a significant payday but still a good bet to receive a qualifying offer, a difference of a few million dollars between potential QOs could have a major impact on how his free agency plays out. That difference may affect how willing a team is to put the qualifying offer on the table and how likely the player is to simply accept it.

With all that in mind, it’s worth checking in on which potential 2025 restricted free agents have actually met the starter criteria so far this season and which ones are on track to do so. The first list is a short one: Bulls guard Josh Giddey is the only player to meet the starter criteria so far.

Giddey had a huge head-start because he made 80 starts for Oklahoma City in 2023/24, meaning he just needed to make two starts this season in order to achieve an average of 41 for the past two seasons. He made his second start for the Bulls way back on October 25, which means his qualifying offer this summer will be $11,142,057 instead of dropping to $7,976,830.

None of the 10 other potential restricted free agents have met the starter criteria though. Of those players, the following three were lottery picks, with their default qualifying offers noted in parentheses:

Jonathan Kuminga, Warriors ($10,240,287)
Davion Mitchell, Heat ($8,741,210)
Ziaire Williams, Nets ($8,353,153)

Kuminga has only started 10 games this season and will fall short of the starter criteria, which will bump his QO down to $7,976,830. Mitchell and Williams still have a chance to get there though — Mitchell has 28 starts under his belt, while Williams has 26. They both need to reach 41 to achieve the starter criteria, and they’ve been regular starters for their respective teams as of late. If they hang onto their starting jobs and stay healthy, they’ll surpass 41 starts.

Again, Kuminga’s free agency is unlikely to be affected by his smaller qualifying offer, since his offer will likely just serve as a placeholder and a last-resort fallback option. Maybe the Nets will be slightly less inclined to give Williams a qualifying offer if it’s worth $8.35MM instead of $7.98MM, but that’s such a small gap that it’s unlikely to affect the team’s QO decision either way. The same goes for Mitchell and the Heat.

The other seven players on expiring contracts who are eligible for restricted free agency are Cam Thomas (Nets), Santi Aldama (Grizzlies), Quentin Grimes (Sixers), Tre Mann (Hornets), Isaiah Jackson (Pacers), Day’Ron Sharpe (Nets), and Jabari Walker (Trail Blazers). Jaden Springer, Chris Duarte, and Bones Hyland were also part of this group before being waived this month.

Of those players, only Thomas has a realistic chance of meeting the starter criteria. He started 51 games last season, which means he needs to get to 31 this season. He’s at 17 and the Nets have 25 left to play. If Thomas can return from his hamstring strain relatively soon, which seems likely, he has a good shot at starting 14 games and reaching the necessary threshold. That would increase his QO from $5,993,172 to $8,741,210.

The others will remain eligible for their standard QOs, based on draft position (or their prior salary, in Walker’s case), as follows:

Tre Mann, Hornets ($6,964,982)
Isaiah Jackson, Pacers ($6,422,431)
Quentin Grimes, Sixers ($6,311,825)
Day’Ron Sharpe, Nets ($5,983,683)
Santi Aldama, Grizzlies ($5,940,797)
Jabari Walker, Trail Blazers ($2,524,624)

And-Ones: 2025 FAs, College Jobs, MCW, WNBA, More

February 20th, 2025 at 7:31am CST by Luke Adams

A series of contract extensions have depleted the star-level talent in the NBA’s 2025 free agent class, but there will still be some notable names to watch this summer, as Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report and ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link) detail.

Both Pincus and Marks have longtime NBA stars LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden atop their lists of 2025 free agents, with Marks positing that no player will have more leverage this offseason than Irving, given how badly the Mavericks need to retain the veteran point guard following the trade of Luka Doncic.

After James, Irving, and Harden, who have combined for 41 career All-Star appearances, the next tier of free agents consists of players like Myles Turner, Fred VanVleet, Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey, and Timberwolves power forwards Julius Randle and Naz Reid. Interestingly, Pincus has Reid ranked ahead of the three-time All-Star he backs up, placing Reid at No. 5 and Randle at No. 7 in his early FA rankings.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

As is typical at this time of year, a number of NBA coaches and executives are receiving interest for jobs at the college basketball level, notes Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). Fischer mentions Hornets executive Buzz Peterson and veteran player agent Jim Tanner as possible candidates for UNC’s general manager job and says Heat assistant Chris Quinn, Suns assistant David Fizdale, and Bucks assistant Dave Joerger are among the names to watch for the University of Miami’s head coaching position. Fischer adds that Kings assistant Luke Loucks has been linked to Florida State’s head coaching opening.
Former NBA Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams is involved in a bid to bring an WNBA expansion franchise to Boston, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. With expansion teams lined up for San Francisco, Portland, Toronto, and Cleveland, the WNBA will have 16 clubs by 2028, so it’s unclear whether or not the league will be looking to expand beyond that number right away.
Passing along the results of a player poll from All-Star weekend, Joe Vardon of The Athletic notes that the 14 respondents were unanimously against the idea of 10-minute quarters floated last month by commissioner Adam Silver. However, 12 of those 14 players liked the new All-Star tournament format.
The Lakers‘ and Pistons‘ G League affiliates completed a trade on Wednesday, with the South Bay Lakers acquiring forward Cole Swider from the Motor City Cruise in exchange for Chris Silva‘s returning rights and a 2025 first-round pick, per a press release. Silva is currently playing overseas, but Swider has been active in the G League and will begin suiting up for South Bay.

Bulls Notes: Ball, Tanking, Roster Keepers, Williams

February 19th, 2025 at 6:17pm CST by Arthur Hill

Loyalty factored into Lonzo Ball‘s decision to accept a two-year, $20MM extension from the Bulls, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. The second year is a club option, and if the Bulls exercise it, Ball’s total salary for the next two seasons will be less than the $21.4MM he’s making this year. It’s his way of repaying the team for believing in him while he was sidelined with knee issues for two and a half seasons.

“Just the overall picture,” Ball explained. “The doctor being out here, so not having to deal with the rehab process like I have the last couple years, the relationship I have with the front office, the coaching staff, the young guys here, it all made sense for me to stay. That’s what I wanted ultimately, and we were able to come to an agreement.”

The announcement of the extension was somewhat of a surprise considering that Ball had been heavily involved in trade rumors leading up to the February 6 deadline. He was also headed toward free agency this summer, which could have resulted in a much larger payday, but he prefers the stability of staying in Chicago.

“I’m in trade talks every year so that’s not a new thing to me, but I expressed to my agent (Rich Paul) that I wanted to stay, and they wanted to have me,” Ball said. “They stayed with me for probably the toughest journey in my life so far, so I was just trying to get back, man, and be loyal to who was loyal to me. I was brought up like that my whole life. I’m really big on family and I feel like it’s family here.”

There’s more on the Bulls:

The front office may regret not fully embracing a tanking strategy at the deadline, Cowley states in a separate story. Chicago sent Zach LaVine to Sacramento, but held onto Ball and veteran center Nikola Vucevic, sending mixed signals about which direction the franchise is headed. Cowley advocates emulating the 9-45 Wizards, as well as the Rockets and Pistons, who were able to quickly rebuild after tanking in recent seasons. Beyond having a better shot at Cooper Flagg, the top prize in this year’s draft, Cowley points out that there will be three potential franchise players in the 2026 class.
In another Sun-Times piece, Cowley tries to determine which players from the current roster should return next season. His list includes Ball, restricted free agent Josh Giddey, rookie Matas Buzelis, Jalen Smith and either Coby White or Ayo Dosunmu.
Patrick Williams will miss Thursday’s game at New York with soreness in his right quadriceps tendon, according to K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network (Twitter link). Williams banged knees with another player in the final game before the All-Star break, but the injury doesn’t appear serious as he was able practice without restrictions on Tuesday and Wednesday.

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