The overwhelmingly despised Arturas Karnisovas made his fair share of awful decisions during his time in charge of the Chicago Bulls. As it turns out, trading Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White wasn't one of them, because he just saved the franchise $186 million.
That's the total amount the Minnesota Timberwolves and Charlotte Hornets shelled out to re-sign the duo, as Dosunmu re-upped with the Wolves for five years and $112 million, while White stayed in Charlotte on a three-year deal worth $74 million.
This isn't to say the trades themselves were smart — the underwhelming returns in each deal remain, frankly, pathetic.
But the choice to move on from two players who probably weren't long for Chicago anyway was the right call by AK.
Bulls Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu trades were individual failures
Chicago sent White, along with Mike Conley, to the Hornets for Collin Sexton, Ousmane Dieng and two second-round picks. Dieng was rerouted to Milwaukee, where he flashed true 3-and-D potential, while Conley was bought out in Charlotte and ultimately returned to Minnesota.
The Bulls traded their best scorer to his hometown franchise for a half-season of Sexton and a pair of second-round selections. Not great.
A day later, Karnisovas sent Dosunmu and Julian Phillips to Minnesota for Rob Dillingham, Leonard Miller and four second-rounders. Miller played well when he got to Chicago, but Dillingham didn't show much after finally receiving legitimate minutes for the first time in his NBA career.
Dosunmu, meanwhile, played a critical role for the Timberwolves.
Across 10 postseason games, the Illinois product averaged 15.6 points while shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 42.5 percent from 3-point range. He scored 25 points in a Game 3 victory over the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs and followed it with a 43-point night in Game 4.
Chicago was still right to trade White and Dosunmu
So yes, Karnisovas failed epically in acquiring anything of value for two of his best players.
But.
The Bulls' new regime under Bryson Graham got off scot-free without having to weigh the pros and cons of shelling out this massive amount of money. Almost everything has been sunshine and rainbows since Graham took over; letting Dosunmu and White walk in free agency for nothing wouldn't have been great PR.
Both players are only 26 years old and are proven NBA scorers. But Graham has a singular vision: build a roster around size, athleticism, physicality and versatility.
White and Dosunmu have some of those traits, but compared to first-round picks Caleb Wilson and Dailyn Swain, they fall short.
So yeah, the trades were disgusting. But the idea behind them was solid, and Karnisovas has been vindicated in making that call.
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