On Thursday, Marc Stein of The Stein Line (subscription required) reported that former Bulls guards Coby White and Zach LaVine hold the interest of the Detroit Pistons as potential 2026 NBA offseason acquisitions as the Pistons look to add shooting to support their space-dependent point guard Cade Cunningham. Â
LaVine and White were Bulls fan favorites at varying points of their Bulls tenure. Given the chance opportunity that both players reunited in Pistons uniforms, that would likely fuel a rivalry that has largely been dormant for more than 30 years.
The basketball logic for the Pistons acquiring LaVine, or White, or both players is obvious. The Pistons struggled to find offense in the 2026 NBA Playoffs without the ball in Cunningham’s hands. Â
LaVine’s shooting ability has remained consistent despite the poor play of his current team, the Sacramento Kings. LaVine holds a 41.6% three-point shooting percentage on 6.8 three-point attempts per game in his two seasons with the Kings.
Coby White would be a welcome upgrade as a secondary creator compared to the upstart Pistons player development success story, guard Daniss Jenkins. White is a more dynamic scorer than Jenkins in terms of being able to shoot off the catch and also methodically break down a defense to score at the rim.
White and LaVine could blaze a familiar NBA player trail in Detroit
In the 60 year franchise history of the Chicago Bulls, a long list of NBA players have suited up for both the Bulls and Pistons. Â
Some of the most noteworthy starting caliber players in this bespoke tradition include forward Orlando Woolridge, drafted by the Bulls in 1981, who averaged 17.1 points per game in his five NBA seasons for the Bulls, which ultimately paved the way for the ascension of the uber Bulls legend Michael Jordan.
Famously or infamously, depending on your point of view Dennnis Rodman, already with two Pistons NBA championships on his resume, brought that championship experience to the Bulls in 1995 and went on to be the rebounding and defensive savant the Bulls needed to add three more NBA championships to their 1990s dynasty.Â
In an uncharacteristically big-name free agent move in 2006, the Bulls signed away the Pistons' 2003-04 NBA championship defensive anchor, center Ben Wallace.Â
Wallace was modestly effective in his first Bulls season, which earned him an NBA All-Defensive Team selection and resulted in a 49-33 regular season record for the 2006-07 NBA season that ironically ended with a second round series defeat to the Detroit Pistons in the 2007 NBA Playoffs.Â
The Bulls would go on to trade Wallace to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the following 2007-08 NBA season.
Finally, the Bulls' 2008 number one overall draft pick, 2008-09 NBA rookie of the year, and 2010-11 NBA MVP, Derrick Rose, found a later career renaissance with Detroit Pistons, functioning in a potent sixth-man role in 65 games over the span of the 2019-20 and 2020-21 NBA seasons in which he averaged 17.2 points per game for the Pistons.
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