The Chicago Bulls firmly committed to the future at the NBA trade deadline, sending off their longest tenured star to the Charlotte Hornets.
The NBA trade deadline often forces teams to commit to the present or the future, and several contenders got stronger on Feb. 4, while other franchises settled into rebuilds. The Chicago Bulls certainly committed to their rebuild in their trade with the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, shipping off Coby White and Mike Conley to the Hornets in exchange for Collin Sexton, Ousmane Dieng and three second-round picks.
Chicago continues to overhaul their roster, despite not usually being this active ahead of the deadline. They already sent out Nikola Vucevic to the Boston Celtics, and Kevin Huerter to the Detroit Pistons, who they received Conley from alongside Jaden Ivey. They flipped that asset around, sending Conley to his second new team in two days. The Bulls drafted White back in 2019, and he was the longest-tenured player with the organization. Their decision to send off White signifies their long-term vision.
Here is the full story from Bulls Roundtable writer Michael Walton on the latest big move out of Chicago and what they are looking to in terms of next steps.
Charlotte takes on White’s contract, as he’s set to make $12.9 million in his final year of his deal. They add him to a young core that is starting to click and are making a potential run for the postseason. While the Hornets sit in 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings, they only need to make it to No. 10 to get in the NBA play-in tournament. They’re currently on a seven-game winning streak and just gave their team a big boost of momentum.
Here is the full story from Hornets Roundtable writer Ashish Mathur on the team’s acquisition and what he adds to their backcourt.
It’s a hard pill for Chicago fans to swallow as they lose a longtime Bull and favorite, but it shows that the front office has their bullseye on the big picture. Meanwhile, Charlotte just made their lineup more exciting with White, who is currently averaging 18.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game while shooting 43.8% from the field.