The Chicago Bulls have given the Detroit Pistons a possible preview of the drama that they could have ahead of them with Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren.
The Bulls are a dumpster fire, stuck in the no-man's land of neither bad nor good and an ownership group and front office that seems content to chase the 10th seed every year. They have a tricky contract situation with Coby White, have already vastly overpaid Patrick Williams and are now in a standoff with restricted free agent Josh Giddey.
The Bulls passed on draft picks in the Alex Caruso trade, instead settling for Giddey, red flags and all, so losing him for nothing is not an option.
The Bulls have reportedly offered Giddey $80 million, which is far less than he is seeking, and so far, neither side has budged.
There isn’t a market for Giddey outside of Chicago unless they were to do a sign-and-trade, and even then, it’s unlikely there would be a deep line of teams looking to trade for Giddey.
Even if the two sides eventually come together, this drama has undoubtedly strained the relationship between player and team, something the Detroit Pistons want to avoid.
Detroit Pistons: Making the right deals with Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren
The Pistons are in their own extension period with Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren, and so far there seems to be little movement to get deals done.
The Pistons don’t have to be in a rush and may want to see more of these two (particuarly Ivey who missed almost all of last season) before committing to them long term.
I’ve written about the risk of doing so, which is primarily financial, as Ivey could command far more next offseason if he has a big year. Of course, if he does, the Pistons will be happy to pay him, but they could potentially mitigate the cost by getting a deal done now.
They also don’t want to head into next offseason with two restricted free agents. Most teams don’t lose RFAs these days, as few teams have cap space to make big enough offers to scare them away, but the Pistons don’t want to have a long, drawn out standoff with two guys that puts their offseason on pause and possibly causes rifts.
The Bulls’ entire offseason has been held hostage by the Giddey situation, and we are seeing a similar drama unfold with Jonathan Kuminga and Golden State, who also hasn’t made moves while the situation is pending.
It’s the sort of fiasco the Pistons want to avoid, so let’s hope they can find the right deals for these two players and stay away from the drama.