Dan Z wrote:MikeDC wrote:kodo wrote:
Kuminga turned down $150M/5 and Brandon Ingram turned down $160M/4, no idea on the guarantees / incentives on either.
Even though Brandon bet on himself and "lost" he didn't lose any annual salary, he's still getting $40M per year just 3 years vs 4.
I don't rate either as being even close to what Giddey did post trade deadline, but I guess that's up to opinion.
Given that Ingram is unlikely to make $40m in whatever his year 4 turns out to be, I’d say the list doesn’t need quotes around it.
Kuminga is really gonna have to hope for a lucky break to get that kind of money too. At the very best he’s gotta sweat it.
So, yeah, if I’m Giddey I’m taking the payday.
I’d be pretty shocked if the Bulls wouldn’t offer him a 3 year deal. If Giddey is really sure of himself he can take that and still cover his bases.
What I haven’t completely decided for myself is what I would want if I were the Bulls. I’m not a big fan of Giddey so I set up the pay structure in the offer I made above to incentivize him to maybe take either.
If Giddey does really blow up though, the Bulls should incentivize him to take the longer deal.
I looked it up and for his career earnings to date Giddey has made 27 million (this doesn't include anything outside of his NBA contracts).
He may want 30 million per year, but if they Bulls refuse and are only willing to pay 25 or even 22 then I think he should take it. Maybe push for a player option the last year or try to add incentives that could make it more if he does well. It's generational wealth and he'll most likely be able to get a 2nd contract when he's still in his 20s.
His earnings outside of his NBA contract are considerable. Obviously not close to the level of the extension he is in line for, but they are very significant.
The reason I say that is because only one of his endorsement deals has ever been made public with regard to funds. It was his Weet-Bix contract which is an Australian Cereal brand under the Sanitarium company. The basic details of the contract came out during his scandal. It was a 4 year contract for $40m AUD, which was the equivalent of $26m USD. The scandal happened when he was earlier in his 3rd year of the contract, and it never came out if he got paid for the last 2 years of it. But those first 2 years were worth $13m USD.
That is one endorsement deal.
He has also had a sponsorship deal with Nike during his rookie contract, and Puma has just signed him in free agency for that market on a new multi year deal. There are also Gatorade, JBL and Cotton On (Cotton On is another Australian company that does clothing) that I can find from a little bit of google searching.
I'd assume (speculatively) that the Weet-Bix deal was the biggest because of the factors at play with a guy like Giddey. By that I mean that Australia is an extremely sports mad country, Weet-Bix is an iconic Australian brand, and Giddey is an athlete that has 'made it' in a globally relevant league/sport. But you would still have to think that the combined value of all his other endorsements are also well in to the millions over the past 4 years.
So just the NBA earnings and the conservative estimation of the Weet-Bix deal (strictly 2 years paid out) takes you to $40m USD. Staying conservative, you can probably assume that the rest of his endorsements combined have been worth a minimum of $5m USD. That would be $45m USD prior to taxes and agent fee's etc.
If Giddey actually got all the money from his Weet-Bix deal, and
if his other deals combined just to equal the value of the Weet-Bix endorsement, then his career earnings would actually be in the range of $70m USD in gross income. It is plausible that his other endorsements combine to more than the Weet-Bix deal, but that seems unlikely from my uninformed point of view.
My point is as follows though.
He has made F U money already.
The QO is $11m for 1 year which is pretty much F U money by itself.
Even in a worst case scenario where he takes the QO and is hit with major injury, he would still be in line to earn an of F U level of money in the years after recovering from this hypothetical major injury purely on what he showed before the injury. (See Lonzo Ball signing 2/20 just by showing he was 'playable' again. See Victor Oladipo earning $40m over the years where his career fizzled out to injury)
Calling back to other worst case scenarios in Schroeder and Noel. Noel earnt $14m on his rookie deal, and turned down 4/70. He ended up earning $31m in the rest of his career bringing him to $45m. That is just NBA money. Could he have earnt much more? Yes, clearly. But he is still extremely wealthy and only 31 years old.
Schroeder earnt $70m before he turned down his 4/84. He has earnt $34m in the 5 years since then and now has another $45m guaranteed ahead of him. That will be $150m in just NBA money, at a minimum.
So while logically it makes sense that he should 'secure the bag', if he really feels insulted the consequences of picking up the QO are not that significant. He is already wealthy. He is already famous. He has the capacity to do whatever he wants post basketball career, and he also has the potential to earn plenty more money for the next 50 years of his life even though his earning potential is extremely high in the near future as a player.
Giddey career is also occurring in an era where the cap is spiking from an absurd starting point to what will be an insane ending point. It feels like it would be very unlikely for him to take the qualifying offer, and then not earn a minimum of $30m AFTER that $11m over the duration of his career. As in that feels like a worst case scenario short of an suffering an amputation, or brain damage level of serious injury (by that I mean any true career ender). Add that on to what he has already earnt, plus future endorsement money and you are looking at $100m + in gross earnings. That doesn't account for future investment earnings, or any earnings during post playing decades.
So once again, I get that he should try and maximize his earnings. I get that the low risk, smart play is to secure a 9 figure contract with the Bulls in this deal. But if he truly feels insulted and disrespected, he
can choose the nuclear option and come out effectively unscathed even if things go poorly for him. The first 10 million matters a lot more than the second hundred million.