The overlap was brief, but some familiarity was established between Bulls guard Josh Giddey and Memphis Grizzlies guard Ty Jerome during the 2021-22 NBA season when both guards were Thunder teammates in Oklahoma City.
Their path immediately diverged at the conclusion of that season as Jerome traveled a journeyman path through the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers to eventually land in Memphis.
Giddey, of course, finished out his first three NBA seasons in Oklahoma City and subsequently found himself shipped to the Bulls after highly visible playoff struggles during the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
Both guards over the last two seasons have displayed performance bumps that are hard to ignore. Giddey has found a reliable three-point shot that may elevate him to credible NBA status as an off-ball scorer.
As for Jerome, he’s played his best basketball of his NBA career over a combined 85 NBA regular-season games between the 2024-25 and 2025-26 NBA seasons, averaging 13.8 points per game, 3.8 assists per game, and shooting 43.3% on 4.2 three-point attempts per game.
The recent growth in Jerome’s scoring and playmaking are attributes that would pair well with Giddey if Jerome is displaying a real late-stage career bump.
Jerome has a $9.6 million player option on the final 2027-28 season of his contract, which could be the optimal scenario for the Bulls to find an avenue to acquire Jerome via trade.
Big picture thoughts on Ty Jerome
Acquiring Ty Jerome is not without risk. Jerome’s game availability has been an issue that has persisted throughout his entire NBA career, as he has appeared in more than 50 regular-season games only once in his seven-season NBA career.
Jerome’s injury history is also well populated with lengthy bouts of calf and ankle injuries, with his most recent calf injury delaying his start of the 2025-26 NBA season by 46 games. Unfortunately for Jerome, the 2025-26 NBA season effectively amounted to a lost NBA season, as he only appeared in a total of 15 regular-season games.
Acquiring Jerome is a high-risk proposition that also offers the high reward of added shooting depth. The best way for the Bulls to mitigate the impact of another Ty Jerome injury could come in the form of acquiring him on his current contract and, conversely, avoid him altogether if he decides to decline his player option and go into unrestricted free agency during the 2027 NBA offseason.
