The future has been bleak for a while in Chicago, but somehow it continues to get darker.
The Bulls' most attractive trade assets, Coby White chief among them, are quickly and severely losing value, giving the franchise three options: Deal them for pennies on the dollar, lose them for nothing or overpay to retain them and continue the cycle of mediocrity.
None of those choices is attractive, but this is what happens when you stack years of poor roster-building decisions -- you back yourself into a corner and have to make even more poor roster-building decisions to get out.
Unfortunately for Chicago, that means cutting your losses, biting the bullet, ripping the band-aid off, whatever idiom you'd like to use, and diving even deeper into the NBA abyss.
Coby White's trade value is tanking
White was a potential trade candidate entering this season. After Zach LaVine was sent to the Sacramento Kings last February, White took over as Chicago's top offensive option and performed like one.
The 25-year-old averaged 22.6 points and hit nearly three 3-pointers per game after LaVine exited. He was the NBA Player of the Month in March after averaging 27.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists across 15 games.
As an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of this season and a questionable fit next to another poor defensive guard in Josh Giddey, trade rumors started swirling early and have only intensified.
But White's numbers are down across the board. He missed the Bulls' first 11 games with a right calf injury, then played through a left calf injury. After appearing in back-to-back games for the first time this year on Dec. 26 and 27, he's set to miss a week with right calf tightness again.
Giddey, White injuries highlighting Bulls greatest failures
Not only does executive VP of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas struggle to make the right move, but he also struggles with timing. He waited too long to trade LaVine. He waited too long to trade DeMar DeRozan. He's waited too long to trade Nikola Vucevic, who, for reasons unknown, is still on the roster.
White is one of the most valuable players on the market heading toward the Feb. 5 trade deadline. The Bulls are reportedly open to moving him, and the former North Carolina star has already been linked to several teams, including the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Understandably, Karnisovas appears to be holding out for a first-round pick for his best asset. Whether he can even land that is a question mark. Now that White will miss more time, the situation is even cloudier.
That brings us back to the three aforementioned scenarios. The Bulls can trade White -- or Vucevic, or even Ayo Dosunmu -- for an uninspiring return; they can keep all three unrestricted free agents and make decisions in the offseason; or they can (likely) pay them too much money and remain stuck with the same issues they already have.
It's Groundhog's Day in the Windy City.