The latest Chicago Bulls news, including a Coby White extension that’s not coming anytime soon and how the front office will be tested this summer.
Bulls should be grateful for Play-In loss
Chicago reached the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament for the third straight year in 2024-25. And for the third straight year, the Bulls’ season ended with a loss to the Miami Heat.
The Heat beat the Atlanta Hawks two nights later to land the No. 8 seed in the playoffs and earn a shot at the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers. That series hasn’t gone great for Miami.
Cleveland took Game 1 121-100. The Heat stayed within reach in Game 2, losing by just nine. But in Game 3, the Cavs handed Miami its worst playoff loss in franchise history—at home in South Beach—in a 124-87 rout.
Game 4 is scheduled for tonight. If the first three contests are any indication, Cleveland is about to head back home with a four-game sweep and a nice little vacation before it hosts the winner of the Milwaukee Bucks-Indiana Pacers series.
By losing to Miami, the Bulls held onto their lottery pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and avoided watching their season die a slow, painful death like the Heat currently are.
Coby White extension unlikely this summer
While the organization has a more immediate need in deciding Josh Giddey’s future, a new deal for his backcourt partner, Coby White, can’t be far off. Unfortunately, Chicago’s chances of getting that extension done this summer are slim to none.
Next season will be the last of White’s wildly team-friendly contract and will see the ascending 25-year-old guard make just $12.9 million. That low number means the UNC alum would be eligible to sign a four-year, $89 million extension this summer. That’s not happening.
White locked down the role of go-to scorer in Chicago after the franchise traded Zach LaVine to the Sacramento Kings. He averaged 24.5 points per game after the All-Star break, ahead of Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell and Miami’s Tyler Herro. He was the Eastern Conference Player of the Month in March after scoring 27.7 ppg in 15 contests, which was ninth-best in the league.
The likeliest outcome is that White plays out his contract and becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer with a (realistic) goal of earning at least $40 million a year. Luckily for the Bulls, they’re projected to have the most cap space in the NBA in 2026 and could shell out to keep White, if they so choose.
Chicago’s front office is about to face another test
Forward Patrick Williams, whom the organization drafted fourth overall in 2020, was heading into restricted free agency last offseason. The Bulls didn’t want to wait around, instead handing out a five-year, $90 million extension that will be a sore spot on their ledger for the remainder of his deal unless another team gets suckered into taking it.
Chicago is facing that same dilemma with Giddey this offseason, except the 22-year-old point guard proved to be one of the team’s most indispensable players down the stretch last year and could land somewhere near a five-year, $150 million offer sheet from another franchise.
Did Vice President of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas learn from his massive Williams mistake? Will he be in a hurry to keep Giddey long term and pounce before any other teams squeeze themselves into negotiations?
As of April 28, the Brooklyn Nets are the only franchise with enough cap room available to offer Giddey that kind of money. Hopefully this time around, Karnisovas has some patience in negotiations and lets Giddey test the free agent waters before throwing cash at him.
If the Nets aren’t interested, that large of a contract may not present itself, and Chicago could keep their potential franchise point guard at a “discount.”
