Atta Kusi, a former defender for Asante Kotoko, regrets playing football.

Josh Giddey was the consolation that helped the Chicago Bulls make the trade acceptable when they decided to trade Alex Caruso. When paired with Patrick Williams, the former guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder is the perfect starting point for a reconstruction.

But before Monday's deadline, the Bulls front office was unable to reach an agreement with Giddey on a contract extension. He will therefore be a restricted free agent going into the summer. Brian Windhorst of ESPN claims that during the negotiations, the two sides failed to reach any common ground.

"There was never really any meaningful negotiations there," Windhorst said via The Hoop Collective podcast. "Which was a surprise to me. I thought the Bulls were going to be under some amount of pressure to get him done because they had traded Alex Caruso for him...They never got anywhere close from what I'm told." 

https://x.com/Will_Gottlieb/status/1848794060255072285

Standing pat with Giddey's contract issue makes sense from the Bulls' point of view. He has not yet participated in a competitive game for the team, and there is no evidence that he can be the pillar that some people think he is. To stay with Chicago past the current season, he needs to earn his next paycheck.

Still, the Bulls are in a bit of a bind when it comes to roster construction. The entirety of their return for Caruso is Giddey. One may argue that one of their best trade assets was undersold. After signing Giddey to the team, the front office will not want to let him go for less than a year.

Luckily for Giddey, he is joining a team that has no expectations going into the upcoming season. Everyone is aware that they have few trade assets and are still in the early phases of rebuilding. Turning the franchise around will take time. On the plus side, Giddey will get as many minutes as he needs.

How much money is available next summer will probably depend on how the gifted playmaker uses those minutes. Although Giddey has some influence over his destiny, the Bulls will realize that they cannot waste this chance and lose him in free agency the following year. A ten-year setback could result from the hammer strike.