It’s clear that the Chicago Bulls are building around Josh Giddey.
The 23-year-old Australian guard has become the face of the franchise since he was acquired via trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder just prior to the start of the 2024-25 season. And while the Thunder have won a championship since, Giddey’s game has grown tremendously since the trade.
The 6-foot-7 guard was known purely as a playmaker who lacked a jump shot, but he has improved tremendously in that regard. Giddey is coming off of his best season to date, averaging career highs across the board with 17.0 points, 9.1 assists and 8.3 rebounds in 32.1 minutes per game. He also converted on 36.8% of his three-point attempts after converting on just 26.3% of his three-point attempts during his rookie season in 2021-22.
As Giddey enters his third season in Chicago and sixth season in the NBA overall, he makes it clear that the objective this season is to make it to the playoffs. It would be the first time since the 2021-22 season that the franchise will have made it to the playoffs.
“Yeah, I think the playoffs is the big one,” said Giddey in a one-on-one interview with Heavy Sports on the objective for this season. “I think getting back there is important to us players, obviously the organization, but the fans as well. I think they’re the ones that have been kind of dying to get back there more than anyone. We’ve got to be able to put on a product with a city that they come out to watch and support us every night.”
Bulls Revamp Roster in Effort to Clinch First Playoff Appearance in 5 Years
The Bulls look drastically different than they do compared to last season. In an effort to remain competitive and clinch a playoff spot in an Eastern Conference that is improved as a whole, Chicago moved on from longtime head coach Billy Donovan and hired Tiago Splitter, who had surprising success in leading the Portland Trail Blazers to a playoff appearance after taking over the job due to Chauncey Billups having to step down.
Chicago’s roster also looks improved adding the likes of summer league standout Caleb Wilson, while making moves for veterans Norman Powell and Nic Claxton. Powell is coming off of his first All-Star appearance last season after averaging 21.7 points per game as one of the Miami Heat’s two primary scorers.
“I think winning games is obviously at the top of my list, and I think all the individual stuff comes as a byproduct of winning,” Giddey said. “We’ve got a good team. It’s a different team than last year. Obviously, a lot of change throughout the building with players, management, coaches. So we’re excited. We’ve had time together in the off season to kind of hit the ground running. When preseason and then opening night comes around, we’ll be ready to go.”
Josh Giddey Releasing All-Pro NITRO 2 Sneakers Through PUMA
Leading into the 2026-27 NBA season, Giddey is entering his second year with PUMA and releasing another pair of shoes. This set is inspired by Giddey’s home continent of Australia’s coastline, with the shoes featuring bright aqua and purple colors. The All-Pro NITRO 2 features a soft inner layer of NITRO foam while providing lateral stability for movements on the basketball court.
“They are,” said Giddey on the comfort of the shoes. “Before I’d sign with them, I had the shoes for a few months just to test and make sure that the shoes were comfortable because you know you don’t want to go in blindly and then you’re locked into a contract and you don’t like the shoes. I love them from day one, they were comfortable they fit to my feet they’ve been awesome, adjusting and customizing things to fit my foot perfectly and I’ve been really really happy with them, how they feel while playing. They’re durable and they last a long time.
“They don’t break, I’ve really, really enjoyed them, I’ve had no issues, with the shoe,” Giddey continued. “Obviously, we play 82 games in the season, so your feet are very, very important, and having comfortable shoes is extra important. So I’m glad that these things go hand in hand.”
Bulls’ Josh Giddey Reveals Objective He’s ‘Dying’ to Accomplish