The answer is quite simple the more you think about it...
The NBA trade deadline is fast approaching, set for Thursday, February 5, 2026, at 3 p.m. ET, and most Chicago Bulls fans are asking themselves the same question: should the franchise be operating as "buyers" or "sellers" at the deadline.
While it can seem like a complicated question, especially with importance of some of the Bulls expiring players and their reluctance to outright tank, the answer is quite simple the more you think about it: the Bulls should 100% be sellers at the NBA trade deadline.
Chicago may be much improved by the time the trade deadline rolls around, and my stance perhaps looks foolish then, but we can only fairly judge off of what we see. In seeing the Bulls in person this season--especially in matchups against teams like the San Antonio Spurs with a healthy Victor Wembanyama--the thing that stands out in most matchups is the sheer talent gap between the Bulls and the on-the-rise teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences.
All that being said, some of the Bulls expiring contracts represent some of the most talented players currently on their roster. Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White, specifically, stand as success stories in development for a Bulls franchise that has been criticized heavily for a lack of player development in general.
Dosunmu can likely be brought back on a deal that is both seen as team-friendly and still gives him a sizeable raise. The same may not be able to be said of the explosive scorer that is Coby White, but constant issues with a hamstring injury amid an uneven season figures to make negotiations interesting.
To his credit, White appears to be rounding into form, coming off a 22-point performance in a win against the Dallas Mavericks. But among all of the Bulls players that can be seen as trade chips, White still stands as the best asset as a legit three-level scorer who has filled a variety of roles during his time with the Bulls so far.
If Dosunmu and White represent homegrown wins for the Bulls, Zach Collins, Jalen Smith, Tre Jones, and to a lesser extent Kevin Huerter, represent trade wins for the organization.
All of the aforementioned players were brought to Chicago in the Zach LaVine trades, and while thought of as salary filler for the most part, all three have played solid roles in Chicago. Jones can be crossed off as a trade candidate in my opinion, as Billy Donovan is a massive fan of Jones' savvy PG play, plus the franchise already has him locked in on a new deal.
Smith and Collins have found success in Donovan's double-bigs lineups, playing with and without the also expiring Nikola Vucevic depending on the matchup. What the Bulls plan to do at center long-term is perhaps the biggest questions surrounding the team outside of whether or not they will bring back Coby White. This question is precisely why I think the Bulls need to be sellers at the trade deadline.
In order to find their long-term center, or more defensive-minded wings to flank Josh Giddey, or just add more talent in general, the Bulls will need to add young players. That is possible with trades, but we are getting close to a point where the Bulls would be swapping their problems for other problems, doing nothing to actually move the franchise in a positive direction. In order to add both cost-effective (from an owner's perspective) and high-ceiling (from a Basketball Ops perspective) talent, stacking draft picks is the easiest route.
Vucevic, Collins, Huerter, White, Dosunmu and Jevon Carter are all on expiring contracts averaging between $7 to $21 million per season.
Of course, it is possible that the Bulls current group of players on expiring contracts don't fetch much in the way of draft compensation. And there is a point where trading someone like Dosunmu for a second round pick and salary filler isn't truly helping you long-term. But if the Bulls can get back first or second round picks for any players they don't see as part of their long-term vision--whether it be Huerter, Collins, and/or Smith--then they need to act on those deals.
At 18-20 with a -3.7 Net Rating, the Bulls need to be worried more about clearing out minutes and usage for the youngest players on their team, rather than moving up in the standings.