The Chicago Bulls agreed to trade Coby White and Mike Conley Jr. to the Hornets for Collin Sexton, Ousmane Dieng (who they traded after), and three second-round picks last Wednesday, one day before the deadline. White's physical after the trade revealed a calf injury, so the two sides amended the trade, with Charlotte keeping one of the three picks it sent.
If you thought the initial return package was underwhelming for the 25-year-old, well, it got a little worse.
The writing was on the wall that the Bulls would trade White, as he turned down an extension before the season started due to wanting more money. Rather than lose him for nothing over the summer or overpaying him, Chicago opted for a deal. The front office seemed to think it could get a first-round pick in return for him, but that certainly didn't happen.
A package of Sexton and two second-round picks isn't what the Bulls had in mind, and that would've been the same even if they had received the third second-rounder. Not only did Chicago get the short end of the stick (and that's its own fault), but it's lucky White didn't suffer a serious injury playing with a calf injury. It's further evidence of the mismanagement that fans have, unfortunately, grown accustomed to.
Bulls received only two second-round picks for Coby White, not three
The two picks Chicago has, per The Athletic, are a 2031 second-round pick from New York and another 2031 second-rounder from Denver. The Knicks didn't draft Jalen Brunson, who the Mavericks selected in the second round of the 2018 draft, but the Nuggets did walk away from the 2014 draft with second-round pick Nikola Jokić.
If you're an optimist, you may be hoping that the Bulls will luck out as Denver and Dallas did, but that will take the kind of luck that Chicago doesn't have. Again, the reason why the Bulls essentially traded White for Sexton and two second-round picks is mismanagement. They should've traded him either before last year's deadline or even over the summer.
The best part of the trade could turn out to be Sexton, who had 17 points in Sunday's loss to the Nuggets. He might not be around for long, though, as, like White, he's on an expiring contract and doesn't fit Chicago's long-term plans.
It's up to the Bulls to strike gold with the second-round picks they received in a trade for a player they selected with the No. 7 overall pick in 2019. No pressure!