You know who would be an ideal addition to this Chicago Bulls roster? Ironically enough, it would be Coby White.
Oops.
The previous regime, under the direction of the notorious Arturas Karnisovas, finally pulled the plug on a "contender" at last season's trade deadline. The Bulls traded Nikola Vucevic to the Boston Celtics, Ayo Dosunmu to the Minnesota Timberwolves and White to the Charlotte Hornets.
Not one of the returns approached even satisfactory.
But dealing White home to North Carolina was especially painful. Six months later, it stings just as much.
This Bulls roster is ironically built for Coby White
Chicago is set with two franchise cornerstones in Matas Buzelis and Caleb Wilson. Both players are explosive athletes who can cover ground in transition and finish at the rim, but both are works in progress.
Buzelis is still developing as a shooter, ball-handler, creator and playmaker. Wilson is raw, but he flashed the ability to lead a fast break and score from the mid-range at North Carolina. His seven 3-point makes in his professional debut made Bulls fans salivate at the two-way possibilities.
Josh Giddey is a starting-caliber floor general who knows how to run an offense. He's improved as a shooter, but won't make defenses sweat.
Acquiring Nic Claxton finally solidified the center position. Norman Powell offers some much-needed floor spacing and bucket-getting.
But head coach Tiago Splitter could sorely use White to bring it all together.
The 26-year-old is a high-level secondary ball-handler, 3-point shooter and underrated playmaker. He could take back his old spot as Giddey's backcourt partner and give the Bulls a true combo guard to unlock the offense.
Outside of Powell, he would be Chicago's best scorer. Outside of Giddey, he would be its best playmaker. He would space the floor for Wilson and Buzelis. He could run the pick-and-roll with Claxton and Wilson and find them for easy lobs and finishes inside.
Giddey is mostly a pick-and-roll facilitator; White could facilitate, stop and pop from range or wriggle his way inside and finish efficiently.
He would be a critical skeleton key who would unlock the Bulls' offense in a way no other player on their current roster can.
The Coby White trade continues to look absurd
In exchange for his best offensive player, Karnisovas landed Collin Sexton, Ousmane Dieng and three second-round picks.
After the Hornets discovered White had arrived with a calf injury, Chicago was forced to send back one of those second-rounders.
Rather than keep him, the Bulls flipped Dieng to the Milwaukee Bucks for Nick Richards. In 30 games with Milwaukee, the 23-year-old averaged 11.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists, flashing the potential that made him the 11th pick in the 2022 draft.
With Sexton and Richards hitting free agency and the Bulls sending that pick back to Charlotte, the total return for White was ... two second-round picks.
That's plenty bad on its own — but the fact that White would slide perfectly onto Chicago's new roster and fill several needs makes last year's failed trade look even more ridiculous.
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