Chicago Bulls Wiretap

The Chicago Bulls and restricted free agent Josh Giddey continue to have good dialogue on a new contract. However, Giddey has not moved off his desire for a contract that averages $30 million per year.

Giddey wants to be in the same range contract that Jalen Suggs signed with the Orlando Magic or Jalen Johnson signed with the Atlanta Hawks last offseason. The Magic frontloaded Suggs' deal, while Johnson's deal came in at a flat $30 million per season.

Giddey put together one of his best all-around seasons with the Bulls last year. The 6-foot-8 guard/forward averaged 14.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Giddey also improved as a shooter, hitting 37.8% of his four three-point attempts per game.

The Chicago Bulls have signed Lachlan Olbrich to a Two-Way contract. Olbrich was the No. 55 pick in the draft. Last season in Australia, Olbrich averaged 8.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 16.9 minutes.

The Bulls also have Jahmir Young and Emanuel Miller on Two-Way deals.

Jonathan Kuminga could re-sign with the Golden State Warriors on a short-term deal, according to Jake Fischer of The People's Insider.

Both Kuminga and the Warriors were prepared for a slowly developing market for the restricted free agent.

The Heat, Bulls, Kings, and Pelicans are interested in Kuminga at varying levels, though each team has challenges in adding the forward. 

The Heat are currently balking at Kuminga's potential $30 milliion-per-year price point and have also been linked with DeMar DeRozan and John Collins.

The Bulls are also hesitant of adding Kuminga's salary, with the Warriors no longer interested in acquiring Nikola Vucevic.

The Pelicans have also registered interest in Kuminga but have no easy path to add the forward while staying out of the luxury tax.

The Kings could include Malik Monk in a deal for Kuminga but no trade package has materialized with the Warriors.

Tre Jones and the Chicago Bulls have agreed to a three-year, $24 million deal. The Bulls acquired Jones at the trade deadline from the San Antonio Spurs in their Zach LaVine deal. Jones was the 31st overall pick in the 2020 draft out of Duke by the Spurs.

Jones had an increased role with the Bulls, averaging 11.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 25.3 minutes over 18 games.

The restricted free agency market for Jonathan Kuminga is beginning to materialize with the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans interested in pursuing him via sign-and-trade scenarios. 

The Warriors haven't ruled out re-signing Kuminga, but are also amenable to a sign-and-trade if the return outweighs that scenario. The process is not expected to be resolved quickly in restricted free agency. 

Kuminga, who is represented by Aaron Turner, averaged 15.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists and a PER of 15.6 last season. The Warriors used the seventh overall selection on Kuminga in 2021 after his season with the G League Ignite. Kuminga has been inconsistent during his time with the Warriors, but hasn't been the best stylistic fit in Steve Kerr's offense. The addition of Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline further complicated Kuminga's fit with their lack of spacing in lineups also featuring Draymond Green.

The Chicago Bulls are trading point guard Lonzo Ball to the Cleveland Cavaliers for wing Isaac Okoro. The Bulls are moving some guard depth to rebalance their roster a bit, while the Cavs get insurance against potentially losing Ty Jerome in free agency.

Ball made an impressive recovery to get back from missing parts of four seasons due to multiple knee surgeries. He appeared in 35 games for Chicago last season and looked healthy. Ball averaged 7.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 22.2 minutes per game.

Late in the year, Ball signed a two-year, $20 million extension with the Bulls. That deal includes a $10 million team option for the 2026-27 season.

Okoro signed a three-year, $33 million contract with the Cavaliers last year. He saw his role reduced with Cleveland last season, falling behind Max Strus and De'Andre Hunter in the Cavs rotation. The Bulls had a lot of guards under contract, and are likely to re-sign Josh Giddey this offseason. Adding a defensive-minded wing in Okoro brings some balance to the roster.

By adding Ball, Cleveland protects themselves against potentially losing Jerome, who is an unrestricted free agent this summer. Jerome is coming off a breakout season and has several interested suitors in free agency.

The Phoenix Suns acquired the No. 31 overall pick and selected Rasheer Fleming out of Saint Joseph's to begin the second round of the 2025 NBA draft.

2025 NBA Draft, Round 1 Results
31. Phoenix Suns: Rasheer Fleming, F, Saint Joseph's
32. Orlando Magic: Noah Penda, F, France
33. Charlotte Hornets: Sion James, SF, Duke
34. Charlotte Hornets: Ryan Kalkbrenner, C, Creighton
35. Philadelphia 76ers: Johni Broome, C, Auburn
36. Los Angeles Lakers: Adou Thiero, PF, Arkansas
37. Detroit Pistons: Chaz Lanier, SG, Tennessee
38. Indiana Pacers: Kam Jones, PG/SG, Marquette
39. Toronto Raptors: Alijah Martin, SG, Florida
40. New Orleans Pelicans: Micah Peavy, SG/SF, Georgetown
41. Phoenix Suns: Koby Brea, SG/SF, Kentucky
42. Sacramento Kings: Maxime Raynaud, C, Stanford
43. Washington Wizards: Jamir Watkins, SG/SF, Florida State
44. Oklahoma City Thunder: Brooks Barnhizer, SF, Northwestern
45. Minnesota Timberwolves: Rocco Zikarsky, C, Brisbane
46. Boston Celtics: Amari Williams, C, Kentucky
47. Milwaukee Bucks: Bogoljub Markovic, PF/C, Mega Superbet 
48. Memphis Grizzlies: Javon Small, PG, West Virginia
49. Cleveland Cavaliers: Tyrese Proctor, G, Duke
50. LA Clippers: Kobe Sanders, SG/SF, Nevada
51. New York Knicks: Mohamed Diawara, F, France
52. Golden State Warriors: Alex Toohey, SF/PF, Sydney
53. Utah Jazz: John Tonje, SF, Wisconsin
54. Indiana Pacers: Taelon Peter, G, Liberty
55. Chicago Bulls: Lachlan Olbrich, PF/C, Illawarra
56. Golden State Warriors: Will Richard, SG, Florida
57. Boston Celtics: Max Shulga, G, VCU
58. Cleveland Cavaliers: Saliou Niang, SG/SF, Trento 
59. Houston Rockets: Jahmai Mashack, G, Tennessee

The Los Angeles Lakers have moved up in Thursday's second round by sending the No. 55 selection and cash to the Chicago Bulls for the No. 45 pick.

The Lakers did not own a first round selection due to the final outgoing pick of the 2019 Anthony Davis trade.

The Dallas Mavericks have opened up the 2025 NBA draft by selecting Cooper Flagg out of Duke with the first overall pick. Flagg will wear No. 32 for the Mavericks after wearing No. 2 at Duke The Mavericks won the lottery with just a 1.8 percent change, which is the fourth lowest in NBA history.

The San Antonio Spurs selected Dylan Harper out of Rutgers with the No. 2 pick. San Antonio has the two most recent Rookies of the Year in Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle.

The Philadelphia 76ers then selected V.J. Edgecombe out of Baylor at No. 3 followed by Kon Knueppel to the Charlotte Hornets at No. 4.

The first real surprise of the draft came when the Utah Jazz selected Ace Bailey. Bailey had an unorthodox lead up to the draft in which he didn't work out for any teams. Bailey had hoped to be selected by the Washington Wizards, New Orleans Pelicans or Brooklyn Nets.

2025 NBA Draft, Round 1 Results
1. Dallas Mavericks: Cooper Flagg, SF/PF, Duke
2. San Antonio Spurs: Dylan Harper, PG, Rutgers
3. Philadelphia 76ers: V.J. Edgecombe, SG, Baylor
4. Charlotte Hornets: Kon Knueppel, SF, Duke
5. Utah Jazz: Ace Bailey, SF, Rutgers
6. Washington Wizards: Tre Johnson, SG, Texas
7. New Orleans Pelicans: Jeremiah Fears, PG, Oklahoma
8. Brooklyn Nets: Egor Demin, PG, BYU
9. Toronto Raptors: Collin Murray-Boyles, PF/C, South Carolina
10. Phoenix Suns (via PHX/BKN/HOU): Khaman Maluach, C, Duke
11. Memphis Grizzlies (via POR): Cedric Coward, SF, Washington State
12. Chicago Bulls: Noa Essengue, PF, Ratiopharm Ulm
13. New Orleans Pelicans (via SAC/ATL): Derik Queen, C, Maryland
14. San Antonio Spurs: (via ATL): Carter Bryant, SF, Arizona
15. Oklahoma City Thunder (via MIA/LAC): Thomas Sorber, C, Georgetown
16. Portland Trail Blazers (via ORL/MEM): Yang Hansen, C, China
17. Minnesota Timberwolves (via DET/NYK): Joan Beringer, C, Cedevita Olimpija
18. Utah Jazz (via MEM/WAS): Walter Clayton Jr., PG, Florida
19. Brooklyn Nets (via MIL/NYK): Nolan Traore, PG, Saint-Quentin
20. Miami Heat (via GSW): Kasparas Jakucionis, PG, Illinois
21. Washington Wizards (via MIN/UTA): Will Riley, SF, Illinois
22. Brooklyn Nets (via LAL/NOP/ATL): Drake Powell, SG/SF, North Carolina
23. Atlanta Hawks (via IND/NOP): Asa Newell, PF/C, Georgia
24. Sacramento Kings (via LAC/OKC): Nique Clifford, SG, Colorado State
25. Orlando Magic (via DEN): Jase Richardson, PG/SG, Michigan State
26. Brooklyn Nets (via NYK): Ben Saraf, PG/SG, Ratiopharm Ulm
27. Brooklyn Nets (via HOU): Danny Wolf, PF, Michigan
28. Boston Celtics: Hugo Gonzalez, SG/SF, Real Madrid
29. Charlotte Hornets (via CLE/UTA/PHX): Liam McNeeley, SG/SF, UConn
30. LA Clippers (via OKC): Yanic Konan Niederhauser, C, Penn State

The Chicago Bulls are motivated to trade Patrick Williams this offseason after signing him to a five-year, $90 million contract during the 2024 offseason. The Bulls have tried most of their developmental staff on Williams only to see no real improvement.

Williams averaged 9.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 25.0 minutes across 63 games last season for the Bulls.

Williams, who is represented by Thaddeus Foucher and Joe Smith, also has a player option for the 2028-29 season. The Buls previously shopped Williams ahead of the 2025 trade deadline.