Bulls Wise to Make Coby White Unavailable amid NBA Trade Rumors Before 2024 Deadline

David Jensen/Getty Images

It’s time for the Chicago Bulls to start heading in a different direction, and they may be doing just that ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline.

Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported “Coby White is now considered off limits in Chicago” even though there was a time when “he was considered available at last year’s trade deadline and before the 2023 NBA Draft.”

This shift toward prioritizing White comes after the front office put together a core of Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vučević, Alex Caruso and Lonzo Ball ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.

It initially worked, as the Bulls were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference in the early portion of that season. The group played well off each other with Caruso anchoring the defense and Ball setting up LaVine and DeRozan on the wings and Vučević down low.

However, everything unraveled after Ball was ruled out with a knee injury. Chicago fell to the No. 6 seed and lost in the first round to the Milwaukee Bucks. Ball still hasn’t returned since January 2022, and the team slogged its way through inconsistency last season on the way to a loss in the play-in tournament.

Yet it didn’t make any significant changes heading into the 2023-24 campaign, and it is once again in line for a play-in tournament spot in ninth place in the East.

Frankly, it is time to make some changes.

DeRozan is in the final year of his contract, while Caruso is about to turn 30 years old this month and will become a free agent after the 2024-25 campaign. The Bulls likely aren’t going to be true contenders while they are focal points of the roster and could accelerate a rebuild by moving one or both of them.

While trading LaVine is no longer a realistic option after he was ruled out for the season with a foot injury, Fischer suggested Andre Drummond is “the most likely Chicago player to be moved by Thursday.”

Any and all moves the front office can make to improve its draft capital or accumulate young players would be wise at this point. The first round of the playoffs seems to be the ceiling for the current iteration of the roster, and injuries and inconsistent play have largely prevented the core from living up to the expectations put in place multiple seasons ago.

There needs to be a new core to build around in the future, and White is someone who can be the face of that group.

The guard never quite found his footing in his first four seasons after the Bulls selected him with the No. 7 overall pick of the 2019 NBA draft, but he has completely turned the corner in 2023-24.

LaVine’s injury will also give him the chance to continue building on his showing and prove he is a worthwhile franchise cornerstone.

White is averaging 19.2 points, 5.1 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game while shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 39.4 percent from deep. He has been more involved of late and averaged 22.6 points per game in December and 22.1 points per game in January.

Chicago has turned to him in crunch-time situations, and he has proven he can attack the rim off the bounce, hit from the outside, facilitate for others and even battle for rebounds from the backcourt.

Perhaps the best part from the Bulls’ perspective is he is only 23 years old.

Most of the players in the current core are veterans who likely don’t have their best individual basketball ahead of them. That cannot be said about White, who has done nothing but improve this season and figures to continue doing so as the offense continues to feature him with LaVine out.

It seems like the front office has recognized his importance and will not trade him ahead of Thursday’s deadline. That is the correct move, even if other players should be moved with a focus on the future.