According to NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer, the Chicago Bulls weren’t interested in trading Coby White at the trade deadline.
Several teams were interested in trading for White, who is having a career season for the Bulls.
“Coby White generated significant interest from rival teams before the Feb. 6 trade deadline,” Fischer and Stein wrote. “Chicago swatted away all that interest.”
White is averaging 20.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists for the Bulls this season while shooting 44.6% from the field, 36.8% from beyond the arc and 89.3% from the free-throw line.
A UNC product, White was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for March. He averaged 27.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 15 games.
Chicago signed White to a three-year, $36 million contract in 2023. White was the seventh overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. He has career averages of 15.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists.
The Bulls are 33-42. They are in 10th place in the Eastern Conference standings.
If the regular season ended today, Chicago would face the Miami Heat 9-10 play-in tournament game.
It’s going to be a while before the Bulls are a winning franchise again. They haven’t won a playoff series since 2015 when Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol were on the team.
Chicago made the playoffs in 2022 but lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round in five games. DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Alex Caruso and Nikola Vucevic were the leaders of that squad.
DeRozan, LaVine and Caruso are no longer on the Bulls.
The Bulls have been looking for a star point guard ever since they traded Rose to the New York Knicks in 2016. It appears White has fit that bill.
The youngster joins Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Rose, Butler and DeRozan as the only players in Chicago franchise history to earn at least one Player of the Month Award.
