The Bulls’ Josh Giddei is rounding out the form, but there is one big problem

When it comes to Chicago Bullsa big focus this year will be on Josh Giddei. For obvious reasons, he signed a four-year, $100 million contract that makes him the guy they want to build for the future.

The peak of a the long-standing stalemate that plagued the summer. Then, of course, there’s the fact that Giddei had a solid second half in the 2024-2025 season. All in all, he accumulated five or more triple-doubleshe made a career-high 37.8% three-point percentage and developed into an effective playmaker and leader.

However, as with most things, the dollar amount doesn’t tell the whole story. As the Bulls move through the preseason, there were promising signs based on Giddei’s performance against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.

During that game, he scored 25 points and was 8-for-8 from the foul line. In addition, Giddy hit two 3-pointers to start the game. These numbers alone got the Bulls fans excitedaccording to Sports Illustrated’s Will Desparte. The Bulls will close out the postseason against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday at the United Center.

However, it’s worth noting that the Bulls lost 124-117 to the Nuggets and their defense played a huge factor in it, above all Gidi.

Overall, he finished with a negative rating of 21.9 and a defensive rating of 123.9, which is not good by any means. That in itself speaks to a much bigger, long-term issue that Gida must prioritize: his defense.

Josh Giddy has to pull himself together before it’s too late

Throughout his career, Giddei was never known as a defensive asset, let alone a threat. The main reason for this is his general lack of consistency. There are moments like that where he makes mistakes and doesn’t know how to react during the game.

It also includes moments where he gets lost in the shuffle, not anticipating screens, leading to backdoor cuts on his watch.

In fact, he acknowledged his poor defense caused the Bulls to lose to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Cup group stage last November. He also didn’t contribute offensively and played with a general lack of confidence. As a result, coach Billy Donovan pulled him from the game.

He also has difficulty guarding the perimeter, which drives him to the basket. Additionally, Giddy has a tendency to jump into the air on fake shots.

Having said all that, Giddei does have some positive qualities. For example, he can guard multiple positions quite well and is generally good on the defensive boards.

Giddy grabbed nine defensive rebounds against the Nuggets on Tuesday. However, there is still a lot of work to do.

To give credit where credit is due, Giddy previously said that he it should work to his game on the other side of the floor. Part of that involves watching film and assessing the damage done, as well as recognizing signs of growth.

Fortunately, Giddei is now part of the system under Donovan where defense is a priority. That, along with the presence of Tre Jones, Isaac Okoro, Patrick Williams and Matas Bouzelis, gives Giddy room to feed off the strengths of these top defenders.

After all, if someone is given $100 million over a four-year period, then that someone has to be a complete player. At this moment, Josh Giddei is not there yet.