Getty Coby White
The talk of the Chicago Bulls trading Coby White has been loud since the team’s postseason run ended at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks earlier this year. However, the Bulls still haven’t pulled the trigger on a deal, and White was even present for the team’s Summer League opener against the Dallas Mavericks.
However, with the acquisition of Goran Dragic and the continued development of second-year guard Ayo Dosunmu, it would appear the Bulls might still be inclined to move White at some point in the future.
The Bulls still need a forward who can back Patrick Williams up at power forward. Preferably, the Bulls would like to get someone with defensive versatility who can also stretch the floor on offense with his three-point shooting.
The following trade proposal would land the Bulls that kind of player within the same salary range, and they wouldn’t have to worry about being locked into a contract beyond the upcoming season.
- Bulls Get: Taurean Prince – $7.2 million through the 2022-23 season and a 2023 second-round pick
- Timberwolves Get: Coby White – $7.4 million through the 2022-23 season
What’s in it for the Timberwolves?
The Wolves just made the splashiest trade of the offseason when they sent Malik Beasley, Jaden McDaniels, Patrick Beverley, Leandro Balmaro, the rights to rookie center Walker Kessler and four first-round picks to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Rudy Gobert.
The Bulls were interested in acquiring Gobert but weren’t willing to part ways with Williams and the trailer load of picks Minnesota sent to get it done.
As it stands, the Wolves are in win-now mode with Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, D’Angelo Russell, the newly acquired Kyle Anderson, and Gobert as their likely starting five. However, the trade of Beverley likely creates a bit of a void at guard for the Wolves.
They still have Jordan McLaughlin, but he’s smallish at 5’10”, and guys like Jaylen Nowell and Bryn Forbes aren’t likely to represent attractive depth options for the Wolves. Adding White would give Minnesota a talented scoring guard off the bench whose defensive struggles might not be as visible on a team with Gobert in the middle.
Youngster Jaden McDaniels is likely ready to play most of the minutes potentially vacated by Prince, while White could have a major impact on the Wolves’ scoring off the bench.
What’s in it for the Bulls?
Lonzo Ball’s injury and the lack of noteworthy progression are troubling, and it also gives some pause to thoughts of dealing White. However, the Bulls could still gain more from adding depth at forward where they only have Javonte Green and Derrick Jones Jr. rather than keeping White in a crowded backcourt with rookie Dalen Terry, Alex Caruso, and Dosunmu.
Prince is only 6’7″, but the 28-year-old has played power forward for the last five years of his NBA career. Prince is a career 37% three-point shooter on 4.6 attempts per game. Prince is not a strong rebounder, as he averages just 3.9 per game since coming to the NBA, but he has been a solid defender capable of defending 2-3 positions.
As a backup power forward capable of keeping teams honest from deep, he could be a valuable acquisition for the Bulls. Because he comes off the books at the end of the 2022-23 season, it’s a fairly low-risk trade for Chicago.
A Chicago depth chart that looks like this is promising.
- PG – Lonzo Ball or Ayo Dosunmu
- SG – Zach LaVine
- SF – DeMar DeRozan
- PF – Patrick Williams
- C – Nikola Vucevic
- Bench – Alex Caruso
- Bench – Dosunmu (if he doesn’t start)
- Bench – Goran Dragic
- Bench – Andre Drummond
- Bench – Prince
- Bench – Green
- Bench – Jones Jr.
- Bench – Tony Bradley Jr.
- Bench – Justin Lewis
A healthy Ball would be key, but the Bulls’ overall depth would be impressive.