{"id":572512,"date":"2026-01-31T07:54:29","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T07:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/572512\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T07:54:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T07:54:29","slug":"bulls-quietly-made-their-coby-white-decision-months-before-the-trade-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/572512\/","title":{"rendered":"Bulls quietly made their Coby White decision months before the trade deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tracking what the Chicago Bulls will do ahead of the trade deadline feels impossible, even for a diehard following every rumor. Reports suggest they\u2019re leaning toward buying<\/a>, but the next few games could shift that thinking. With seven expiring contracts on the roster, shouldn\u2019t they be sellers? Well\u2026 It\u2019s still Art\u016bras Karni\u0161ovas in charge, so standing pat is always an option.<\/p>\n

Bulls\u2019 buy-or-sell dilemma<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, a few things will be clear once the trade deadline passes. We\u2019ll know more about what the Bulls plan to do with their most pressing expiring contracts\u2014Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White.<\/p>\n

If either Dosunmu or White is traded, it will reveal who the Bulls prioritize for the long term. Sending Dosunmu away would make signing White to a substantial contract this offseason all but inevitable, and the reverse would also hold true.<\/p>\n

If Chicago instead looks to acquire talent while holding onto both Dosunmu and White, it could signal that Karni\u0161ovas truly believes in this roster, making both players likely to be re-signed as the Bulls go all in. Still, that scenario seems unlikely, given that most trade-market options aren\u2019t particularly appealing\u2026 aside from the big names<\/a>, of course.<\/p>\n

Lastly, the stand-pat option exists, and through a pessimistic lens, it feels plausible. If neither Dosunmu nor White is traded, all bets are off. Chicago could re-sign both, keep one, or let both walk.<\/p>\n

Giddey\u2019s extension set the long-term guard plan<\/p>\n

No matter what happens by the trade deadline, it seems likely that Chicago will keep either Dosunmu or White, not both, long-term. That decision was arguably made months ago, when the Bulls re-signed Josh Giddey to a four-year, $100 million deal in September.<\/p>\n

Chicago made a sizable investment in Giddey, effectively anointing him the point guard of the future. While Giddey and White can coexist (as we\u2019ve seen for the past one-and-a-half seasons), it\u2019s not necessarily the ideal pairing. Both players\u2019 offenses outshine their defense. Of the 245 players to log at least 600 minutes this season, Giddey ranks 147th in CraftedNBA\u2019s comprehensive defensive metric, while White checks in at 238th.<\/p>\n

Lumping both into a \u201cpoor defender\u201d category based on a single metric would be presumptive, but neither impresses in traditional defensive stats. They don\u2019t pass the eye test, and together have contributed only one truly impactful defensive season for their teams (Giddey\u2019s rookie year).<\/p>\n

Backcourt talent needs defensive support<\/p>\n

Chicago\u2019s backcourt is somewhat reminiscent of the Dallas Mavericks\u2019 past duo of Jalen Brunson and Luka Doncic. Supremely talented, but still in need of strong defenders to succeed. Even when Dallas acquired Kyrie Irving following Brunson’s departure, the team still required quality defenders around its dynamic guards. The takeaway for Chicago is clear: the Bulls would always need a defender like Isaac Okoro and invest in their frontcourt like the Cleveland Cavaliers have with Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.<\/p>\n

That said, Giddey and White aren\u2019t Brunson and Doncic or even Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell, meaning the Bulls have little incentive to invest heavily in a defensive-minded frontcourt just to complement their backcourt.<\/p>\n

Instead, Dosunmu is a safer long-term fit alongside Giddey. He\u2019s not as dynamic offensively as White, but he\u2019s a stronger defender and doesn\u2019t need a high usage rate to impact the game. Supporting that,<\/a> NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Bulls view Dosunmu as a key complementary piece in the backcourt with Giddey.<\/p>\n

Fischer explicitly stated, “\u2026 it’s getting harder and harder to see Bulls committing that level of salary to a second ballhandler after last fall’s four-year, $100 rookie scale extension with Josh Giddey.”<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the decision will come in the next few days or this offseason, but Chicago essentially set White\u2019s future nearly six months ago by committing to Giddey. Both players can coexist, but long-term, they\u2019re not the ideal duo to build around, especially at a combined $50 million-plus per season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tracking what the Chicago Bulls will do ahead of the trade deadline feels impossible, even for a diehard…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":572513,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3771],"tags":[7,920,919,329,3824,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-572512","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bulls","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bulls","10":"tag-chicago","11":"tag-chicago-bulls","12":"tag-chicagobulls","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115988638296581883","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=572512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/572513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=572512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=572512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=572512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}