Bulls fans know the current front office’s pattern of stringing out trade rumors, dragging their feet in any potential swaps, and proceeding cautiously around the trade deadline. The last time a swing for the fences was taken in February, Arturas Karnisovas burned Chicago’s future by sending out two first-round picks and one of their most recent first-round picks, Wendell Carter Jr., in exchange for Nikola Vucevic. That move has resulted in one playoff appearance and a 1-4 postseason record in three years. Vucevic, Zach LaVine, Lonzo Ball, and Patrick Williams are the known assets on the open market, but one source says a new contender for the first Bull to be traded could be making a late push. Who is added to the list, and how much can Chicago get in return for his services?
Trading Coby White Would Be A Mistake
Per Evan Sidery, NBA contributor for Forbes, the Bulls are on the brink of a full-blown rebuild. He continued to specify that Coby White would be included in the departing assets, noting that he’d have the most significant return of any roster pieces. While it’s true that White would return more future capital than anyone else on Chicago’s depth chart, his new contract extension and young age should prevent the Bulls from entertaining anything less than an established All-Star or a surplus of first-round draft picks. If Karnisovas trades away White while holding onto some of the aging, overpaid players on the team, the fanbase may riot even more so than the last three years of turmoil.
Glimpse Of The Rebuild
Trading away the former North Carolina Tar Heel would eliminate Chicago from playoff contention. This move would also indicate that they’ll sell LaVine, Vucevic, Ball, and Williams to the highest bidders over the next 14 days. Whether it’s by stacking over ten first-round draft picks and using the Oklahoma City Thunder method to rebuild or adding a flurry of young, unproven talent, the Bulls would retain their top-ten protected pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and will their way to bring Cooper Flagg to Chicago. With Karnisovas’s history in the trade department, a complete rebuild is very unlikely.
The February 6th trade deadline will undoubtedly be this regime’s last crack at redemption before they’re let go this offseason, and it’s tough to estimate if Karnisovas’s group will make a last-ditch effort to save their jobs moving forward or ride out the current strategy and philosophy to their graves. If the current roster remains stagnant 15 days from now, this front office will not be with the organization headed into the 2025-26 season.
