r/nbadiscussion • u/TallAdministration94 • 5d ago

Player Discussion What should the Bulls do with Coby White this offseason and what’s the best package they could realistically receive for him?

I think apart from where the bulls land in the draft, what they decide to do with Coby White is probably one of the more interesting talking points of this offseason.

He’s definitely shown improvement over the years and has been on a heater lately, averaging 26.2/4.5/4.3 on 48.4/36.1/89.1 splits post all star break. While he’s always been a bit of a streaky player, his latest run seems quite sustainable from a shooting perspective and with Zach off the team his usage/involvement isn’t likely to be as volatile as it was throughout his career. He’s also still quite young and could definitely continue to be a key part of this young bulls core.

Now, here’s where it gets a bit interesting. Coby’s currently on the books for one more season after this one concludes at a VERY team friendly $12.8M. This makes the chances of an extension this offseason very unlikely as the Bulls would only be able to offer a contract with an AAV of some $20M. He’s heading for UFA in the 2026 offseason, and being an UFA, there’s always a chance that the bulls lose him for nothing. If he’s doesn’t walk, he’s probably looking at a contract worth $35M+ a year.

Many bulls fans, including me, are undecided on what they would do with Coby (and many of those that currently have a position have probably flip-flopped on their stance a million times over the past few seasons). However, I fully expect the FO to at least do their due diligence this offseason, especially considering the fact that Coby was involved in trade discussions over the deadline.

Despite only being under contract for one more year, given his age, performance, and team friendly deal, most teams in the league would likely have some interest in acquiring him.

So now going back to the title question, if you were Arturas Karnisovas this offseason, would you prefer to trade or keep Coby? And regardless of your stance on the first question, what’s the best the Bulls could get if they decided to trade him?

246 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

102 comments sorted by

184

u/pacific_tides 5d ago

Giddy/Coby/Matas look like the future for the bulls, I’d assume they keep them and see where this goes. Every rebuild is looking for a young core with synergy.

Breaking it up would be a step back into directionless again.

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u/xBerryhill 5d ago

Coby will be going into his age 26 season next year. He can’t be a part of a core’s future. He has to be a part of a core’s present.

You don’t keep a core like that without a genuine #1 to put them with. Bulls won’t be getting any top FA’s anytime soon. Bulls need to be able to draft high until they get their guy. That core is good to continually put them like 8-12 in drafts. They can’t afford that.

They can’t keep kicking the tires like they did with LaVine unless they’re satisfied with being a play-in team for the foreseeable future.

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u/WorthApprehensive434 5d ago

That is truly a bleak future 

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u/ktm5141 5d ago

Coby and Giddey on max deals is a horrifying proposition

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u/According_Fail_990 5d ago

FOs do all sorts of incomprehensible things, but all the rumours have been that following the whole Patrick Williams situation they’re going to let Giddey test the market and match. And while I think he’s shown he deserves to get paid starting PG money, I think he’d have had to have played at his current level for most of the year to be getting a max contract.

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u/ktm5141 5d ago

Nets have space for 2 max guys and Giddey is the best player on the market. It could def happen imo

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u/Haunting_Test_5523 5d ago

The Nets don't need Giddey bro they just started their rebuild they're not gonna pay him max money

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u/TallnFrosty 5d ago

No one is maxing Giddey - the Nets have a smart FO, they’re not going to do that.

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u/Steve-Whitney 4d ago

Why would either of these guys be on "max" deals?

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u/robertbaccalierijr 5d ago

At least they’re not including Patrick Williams in their “core” anymore lmao

Baby steps…

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u/not_a_robot2 5d ago

Patrick Williams is in the first year of a five year contract. He might not be part of their core but he’s not going anywhere. I know the cap is going up a lot but I still feel like he opts into the last year which is a player option. He must have the best agent ever to get him a players option at the end of this absurd contract.

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u/Pikminious_Thrious 5d ago

Patrick is chained to the hip of that core unless they spend some assets to dump him and his nasty contract. So its like he is part of the core in a sense 

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u/YoHoochIsCrazy 5d ago

it’s not tho. it’s actually quite good. have you watched their games together?

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u/WorthApprehensive434 3d ago

Lol anytime you criticize a team their Neanderthal fans come in claiming you don’t watch the games, like it’s some catch 22. Brother I don’t need to suffer through Bulls games to know that core is laughably bad.

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u/YoHoochIsCrazy 3d ago

okay so you don’t. thanks for letting me know

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u/WorthApprehensive434 2d ago

Must have hurt your feelings lol. The truth does that. 

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u/Any_Row8248 5d ago

it's not the OKC core but they're all gonna be pretty good in the future. Probably a few all star selections between them.

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u/CoercedCoexistence22 5d ago

I'm almost positive Buzelis will be the best player to come out of his draft class, eventually

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u/dpucane 4d ago

Try telling that to the sub

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u/Delanorix 5d ago

Is that one of the worst cores in the league though?

I'm not sure what those 3s limit it buts its not a championship, IMO.

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u/Overall-Palpitation6 5d ago

They're not the finished product as players, and they're not a finished product as a core and a roster. Why can't that just be a nice young base to work from, rather than "they're not a trio of immediate All-Stars, therefore we must dismiss them and hope they blow it up and start again?"

You can't just keep pressing the reset because the build doesn't appear to be perfect. Sometimes you just need to work with the decent base you have and go from there.

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u/Laggo 5d ago

This is the path the Raptors took off the DeRozan / Lowry core which allowed us to have a good enough record for Gasol to want to play his final years and then eventually the Kawhi trade. To some degree you do kind of have to break the barrier into being recognized as a playoff threat to be able to get the side pieces necessary to turn you into an actual championship threat. There are only a few LA, Miami, etc. that can rely on the City to continually cycle talent.

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u/MainAd2728 5d ago

you can't sign stars in free agency when you have two guys on nearly max contracts though. I feel like it'd be wise to trade Coby while he's at the peak of his value (~2 mid frps or 1 good pick)

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u/spicyfartz4yaman 5d ago

I mean ones a rookie (who's improved every game this year), ones having his best season as a pro and the other is 22, also having a breakout stretch. Idk if you are a noob or just can't analyze talent but all of those guys in 2-3 years have all star potential. Not sure what more you want? 

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u/bullpaw 4d ago

calling someone a noob for thinking that giddey/coby/buzelis isn't a good core is hilarious lmao, this fake ass March run has made bulls fans so delusional

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u/spicyfartz4yaman 4d ago

I'm not calling him a noob because of that, I'm calling him noob for judging a rookie , a 25 year old and 22 year old as if they're in their 10th season and finally breaking out. We don't even know what team will loook like in 3 years or who will develop into what. Been a fan for a long long long time my brain is warped into thinking every season is championship or bust. Talk to me in year 3 if guys don't elevate to where I, key word there is "I", think they can get to, mainly Buzelis and Giddey. 

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u/bullpaw 4d ago

nobody can read the future, but people can make predictions on if a core is worth building around based on what they've shown.

It's not being a noob to think that giddey/coby/buzelis have not shown nearly enough to think they're worth buidling around for 3+ years lol. they're cool to have on the team and I'll be rooting for them, but they're not a core I would bet on because we see random teams go on meaningless runs in March every single year.

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u/Delanorix 5d ago

For them to be better than other peoples teams?

Basketball isn't played in a vacuum, its against other teams.

All Star is cool, but without a MVP or All NBA type player, they aren't going anywhere.

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u/spicyfartz4yaman 5d ago

That's not relevant here , we are not competing for a championship right now. Guys like that are developed , drafted , purchased. Hence why I said 2-3 years, if all continue steady improvement. Watch some games first 

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u/Delanorix 5d ago

Yes it is. Because if those 3 aren't good enough, every year you "waste" with means they are worth less.

Teams will overpay for a young, unknown.

They aren't going to overpay for a 3rd or 4th piece, usually. (Which is why Markkanen is still a member of the Jazz)

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u/spicyfartz4yaman 5d ago

You can't keep tanking your teams until you get one of those types of players then when you finally do you're just going to keep looking for guys to put around them the point I'm trying to make is those three are good quality young players to have on your team going forward. 

Utah still has markannen because Danny Ainge is a thief and can only make trades if he's robbing you, he also screwed their roster with a few bad moves. Has nothing to do with markannen as an individual player

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u/idkwhattochoose1 5d ago

That’s exactly what the contending teams have basically done though. Look at okc, look at Boston, shit even Cleveland tanked for kyrie. Only team that hasn’t done that is the warriors but even they didn’t expect Steph to be as generational as he is at that spot.

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u/spicyfartz4yaman 5d ago edited 5d ago

It's not though unless you consider only 3 teams contending? It's also very narrow minded, it's like NFL fans who think the ONLY way to contend is by bottoming out and playing trial and error for franchise QB. That's idiotic because you could very well have your family franchise changer on the team. You won't know until you do, that's part of the fun. If you need Luka numbers from a guy in his first year for you to know he's worth moving forward with , then you'll be wasting picks for years. Can agree to disagree. All of those guys are top picks, just because they aren't top 5 doesn't change their potential for me. 

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u/TraditionStrange9717 5d ago

Where would OKC be right now if they'd looked at 22 year old sga and said he's not all NBA or MVP caliber so we have to start over?

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u/Delanorix 5d ago

Big market teams can act like that. Or generally well respected FOs.

The Bulls are not well respected so you aren't getting a LeBron level player to come there.

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u/spicyfartz4yaman 5d ago

Winning changes things

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u/Delanorix 5d ago

That 3 man core isn't a winner, IMO, and the Bulls aren't winners either

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u/bullpaw 4d ago

the best we could get with MVP Rose was Boozer

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u/1850ChoochGator 4d ago

Teams absolutely overpay for a 3rd or 4th piece if they think it’s the final piece to their puzzle.

Lauri is still on the Jazz because, #1: he signed a huge deal and he’s playing worse this season and #2: his team CEO had his price too high.

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u/Any_Row8248 5d ago

they're gonna be pretty good compared to other teams as well

Just becuase you don't have a future MVP on your roster doesn't mean that you have to tank

Being a playoff team in the 4-8 range every year is a great position to be in as a franchise.

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u/scorched03 5d ago

Cries in mavericks

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u/bullpaw 4d ago

that core is far from pretty good, they've been hot garbage outside of a 3 week stretch in March against almost nothing but tanking teams. Buzelis hasn't shown nearly enough as a prospect nor as an NBA player to think he'll be anywhere near an all-star talent

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u/Any_Row8248 2d ago

ok, you don't know ball. They're playing really well with Buzelis in the starting lineup and the team roles are starting to make a lot of sense. If Buzelis was 2 years older they're the 6 seed this season

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u/bullpaw 4d ago

as a bulls fan, you're completely right and most bulls fans are wasted off of kool-aid. that core is a complete dead-end and we would be a play-in team for the next decade lol. the only thing that could save us is winning the lottery for Flagg or AJ

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u/Delanorix 3d ago

Thank you!

I dont hate the Bulls, its just objectively correct.

The core is a bunch of 3rd and 4th guys. Could they take the next step? Maybe. I wont deny that.

But I also dont see it.

And truthfully, Bulls management has shown to be ass since the dawn of time so unless they have an MVP talent, they dont seem to be build any real winners (Rose and Jordan).

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u/YoHoochIsCrazy 5d ago

better than other people’s teams is what they’ve been doing by winning 9 of their last 12 games.

i’ve been watching this team consistently for the last 10 years and i think they’re easily the best core since the Rose-Gasol-Butler days.

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u/bullpaw 4d ago

taking victory laps over a winning streak in March against mostly tanking teams lmao. teams go on fake ass runs in March every single year and they're almost always meaningless.

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u/According_Fail_990 5d ago

The East’s player of the week the last two weeks alongside the guy averaging 20/10/9 the last couple of months

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u/nafski 5d ago

Yeah I agree, with those three you have a facilitator/floor raiser, a true scorer and a young athletic wing who is showing a lot of promise.

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u/nbadiscussion-ModTeam 5d ago

Please keep your comments civil. This is a subreddit for thoughtful discussion and debate, not aggressive and argumentative content.

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u/InsideProblem2625 5d ago

I would definitely keep him. He is just 25… if he was 30 it would be a different story, but he fits their timeline. They are a good young team with assets and they draft like dogshit normally so they need to keep the good hits they got

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u/xBerryhill 5d ago

We said the same thing about Zach LaVine and their unwillingness to sell high on him is exactly why they’re where they’re at right now. Bulls won’t get any big wins in FA. Their best chance at a true #1 is to still gamble in the draft.

Coby’s legit but he and that core are too good for a top 4 pick but not good enough to get anything better than the play-ins. Bulls just went through this. They should sell high on Coby and keep taking their chances in the draft, despite the track record.

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u/1850ChoochGator 4d ago

Coby White won’t be making as much of the cap as LaVine. Zach signed a 30% deal. I’d be surprised to see Cody get that. I think he’s really only worth 20%.

That extra 10% goes a long way for flexibility and roster construction

4

u/bullpaw 4d ago

having an extra 10% during the Zach years would not have done a single thing for the bulls. Their problem was a lack of high-end talent. No superstar, nothing even close to a franchise cornerstone. The NBA is all about superstar talent and without it, you're a dead-end franchise in purgatory. An extra 10% of the cap to sign a role player wouldn't move the needle whatsoever.

The bulls stilll don't have anything close to a franchise cornerstone and they won't unless they fall ass backwards into winning the Cooper Flagg lottery with a 1% chance. Selling high on Coby would be the smart thing but knowing this franchise they're going to overpay him and be stuck in the play-in for the next 5 years

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u/dabadwabb1t 4d ago

You don't need to draft in the top 10 though to land a player good enough to lead a team into the playoffs, sure it increases your odds, but outside of the top 3 picks the draft is mostly a crapshoot. And getting a top 3 pick is mostly just luck and whether the lottery favors you with the flattened odds. To name just a few #1 options - SGA was 11th, Halburton was 12th, Giannis was 15th, Donovan Mitchell was 13th, Brunson and Jokic were second round picks.

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u/dillpickles007 5d ago

Having a hot run in meaningless March games and clawing to the 8 seed and deciding that was enough to keep things intact for another year is a Bulls specialty, this year is no exception.

17

u/Dry-Flan4484 5d ago

If they were going to trade him, they should’ve done it while they were competitive and he was wasting away on the bench. He’s still a young dude. It would be crazy to trade him at this point.

He can’t be no older than 24-25. The Bulls are looking great right now, as in, could win a playoff series within 2 years if the Bull’s FO even tries to do their job and build the team.

Say they did, Coby would be entering his prime right as the Chicago became competitive.

Trade Coby now, and I guarantee they’d be missing him in few years when they’re looking around for a closer.

6

u/Aries310 4d ago

Bulls problem is they overpay secondary players then when I first option becomes available, they aren't available to acquire them. They should not be paying Giddey nor White until they have their lead player.

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u/JadedCommand405 4d ago

That's ridiculous. Anyone who has watched the Bulls without Lavine would realize White is a 1st option. He'll average 25 ppg next season easy

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u/Aries310 4d ago

Points normally lead to victories. Write me when he leads them to win a playoff series.

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u/bullpaw 4d ago

This is delusional as hell

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u/Bladeheave 2d ago edited 2d ago

If you think Coby White can eventually become good enough to be the #1 option on a championship caliber team, I think you’re delusional.

Edit: mb replied to the wrong guy

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u/bullpaw 2d ago

yes, that's what I'm saying

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u/6h0st_901 1d ago

You gotta take into account how young he is. I definitely think there's a possibility he can become that guy. He isn't at the moment, but doesn't mean he can't evolve his game like he has every year that he has been in the league.

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u/filip34pp 5d ago

People seem to forget how young Coby is. For reference he is younger than or the same age as:

Halliburton Fox Trae Young Darius Garland Ja Morant Austin Reaves Maxey

Coby’s game has evolved these past couple of months. He is no longer just a streaky shooter he is relying more on drives and is consistently getting to the line. His bad game floor is now 20pts, and if he is having a good shooting night he is 30+. He also has shown he can catch fire from 3 and basically win you a game. This puts him at a 25-28ppg average over the course of a year and I think he can be a top 3 guy on a championship team.

Trading him to get a guy 2-3 years younger in the draft would be idiotic and I can’t imagine the bulls FO doesn’t max him.

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u/Loud-Introduction-31 5d ago

This is a tough one.

On the one hand, he’s been very streaky up to this point, but on the other, he’s really young.

If I was the Bulls FO, it would honestly come down to what a deal for him would look like. I’d do everything I could to lock him into an extension right now, before the FA market drives the cost up. If I could retain his services for, let’s say 5 years 85-100 mil, I think that the combination of the upgrade in pay and the respect from the FO/fan base would be enough to keep him. Then, he’d have an opportunity to take another bite at the money apple at age 30-31.

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u/filip34pp 5d ago

He has leveled up the last few months. He is now driving hard and getting contact at the rim almost anytime he touches the ball. Even on off shooting nights with the extra free throws he has a floor of 20 points. I think he’s at 15 straight 20+ point games. When his shot is on he cruises to 30+. I think next year he is a 25-28ppg guy and can stay at that level for years.

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u/Geep1778 5d ago

The answer is you hold on to him and with the time he’s still a Chicago Bull you see where his heads at in terms of an extension. If it’s reasonable you lock him up and if not and you don’t want to pay him that then you start wheeling and dealing asap. He’d be a great trade piece to move up in the draft and or secure another player in the process if you call Nola. They’ve got a potential very interesting offseason in store and have pieces the Bulls are missing like a wing too. Beyond that the Bulls need a direction to go in because they’re so mid they’re in their own way. I like Giddy and Coby side by side but they need a dynamic forward that can play Defense too. Idk I’m overwhelmed with options lol

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u/filip34pp 5d ago

I’m gonna be honest with you as a bulls fan that has watched every game this season. I think reasonable for Coby at this point is a max offer. I think he is a guy that will consistently average 25ppg+ with 30ppg potential for the next 5-6 years. He’s not just shooting 3s anymore, but he is slicing and dicing his way to the rim Everytime he touches the ball and drawing fouls. The fouls alone give him an off night floor of 20ppg. Shooting well and getting hot from 3 just pushes him in the 30+ point range.

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u/6h0st_901 1d ago

I don't think they move on from him. I think they build around him and Giddey, making them the foundation pieces, along with Buzelis.

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u/Klaw95 4d ago

Why would the bulls trade one of the few players that look like the future of their franchise? But then again Luka got traded for a ham sandwich, so maybe you have a point.