The Chicago Bulls have a Coby White predicament on their hands. The sixth-year guard is up for a contract extension after re-signing for merely $36 million in 2023. Since signing the inexpensive three-year pact, White has averaged 20.0 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 4.8 assists. He came in second place in Most Improved Player voting a season ago and won the Eastern Conference Player of the Month in March.

Thus, after signing his first extension for less than the league average, White can only extend this time around for four years and $89 million. Therefore, coming off an impressive season, highlighted by a post-All-Star break surge, White has become unextendible. White will, without a doubt, bet on himself and wait until next season to re-sign with the Bulls at a much higher rate or take his talents to the next-highest bidder.

Because of White’s contract conundrum, coupled with Chicago’s lack of future direction, the rumor mill has heated up substantially, depicting White as a trade target for several teams throughout the association.

Several team’s fan bases are eyeing Coby White

Teams with a need for a perimeter shotmaker have been routinely linked to the 25-year-old guard. For starters, the Orlando Magic, who are in desperate need of volume three-point shooters, have been identified as a prime suitor for Portland Trail Blazers’ guard Anfernee Simons. However, White has begun creeping into the discourse.

The foundation for a theorized three-team swap was recently laid out that would send White and Jevon Carter to Orlando in exchange for Jonathan Isaac, Jett Howard, Kobe Bufkin, and a plethora of first and second-round picks. This mock trade via Atlanta Hawks on SI also has Ayo Dosunmu being sent to the Hawks.

Furthermore, another White-to-Orlando idea came to fruition sans a third team. This highly scrutinized hypothetical included Cole Anthony, three first-round, and three second-round picks in exchange for White. While a bit overzealous in terms of the ammunition necessary to acquire White, it goes to show that the Magic are rumored suitors.

Besides Chicago’s Eastern Conference foe, the remaining teams that have admired White from afar reside in the Western Conference. The Dallas Mavericks and the Golden State Warriors’ fan bases have seemingly clamored for the sixth-year guard.

The Mavericks, who are said to be pursuing a point guard on the trade market or in free agency, have long revered White. Dallas notoriously sent starting point guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in one of the most condemned trades in recent memory. Following Doncic’s abrupt departure, Kyrie Irving suffered an ACL tear in March, effectively ending his 2024-25 campaign and putting his 2025-26 campaign in question.

Consequently, with the only point guard being two-way convert Brandon Williams under contract, adding another lead guard is only rational, and White seems to be the favorite. However, without an excess of second-round picks, Dallas can only realistically offer valuable assets to tempt the Bulls, such as Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford, P.J. Washington, and first-round capital.

The Warriors’ fan base is brash in hypothetical trades for White

The Warriors’ fan base is less bombastic on acquiring White than the Mavericks, yet more rash. Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody have been frequently mentioned as byproducts of a hypothetical trade. However, many mock trades have lacked adequate draft capital that the Bulls would rightfully seek in exchange for a player of White’s caliber.

Warriors Talk proposed Moody and a future first-round pick for White. Sure, the trade works (once the new league year begins), but shipping a 20-plus point per game scorer out only to receive Moody and little draft capital is unjustifiable from Chicago’s perspective.

Besides Moody as Golden State’s trade-worthy asset, Kuminga has been routinely mentioned, primarily because of his restricted free agent status. Thus, a sign-and-trade centered around the soon-to-be free agent forward and White has been frequent amongst X users. While there’s a bit of over-enthusiasm regarding this hypothetical swap, it makes some sense if the Bulls are able to extract multiple future first-round picks for Kuminga.

Without a doubt, Kuminga is a promising young player. On the flip side, he’s a score-first (score only?) wing with numerous flaws on the verge of signing an extortionate contract. Therefore, his value isn’t exactly extravagant despite his age and impressive production.

All in all, it’s equally interesting as it is perplexing to observe the ever-increasing Coby White trade rumors. After a phenomenal post-All-Star campaign, it’s safe to assume the Bulls would like to retain White for years to come. Conversely, on the brink of passing up an $89 million contract extension in hopes of re-signing for much more, there might not be a better time to trade White than this offseason.