INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 Coby White doesn\u2019t pretend to ignore the trade chatter.<\/p>\n
That would be pointless. He knows what\u2019s going on. Barely a week away from the Feb. 5 NBA trade deadline<\/a>, White is the centerpiece of the Chicago Bulls\u2019 offerings on the market. Consensus around the team and the league as a whole seems to pile up in agreement \u2014 if one player is going to get dealt in the next week, it\u2019s most likely to be White.<\/p>\n White knows that teams have shown interest. He also knows there\u2019s not much he can do about it. Any of it. Sure, he can make a strong impression, something he has been happy to do by shooting 49.1% from 3-point range over the last six games. But ultimately, the decision of where he will play on Feb. 6 belongs to someone else.<\/p>\n Chicago Bulls prepare for daunting stretch of 5 games in 7 days: \u2018It just keeps going\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of it\u2019s out of my control,\u201d White told the Tribune. \u201cObviously there\u2019s a lot of scenarios out there. And you\u2019ve got to always look at it like \u2014 it\u2019s good to be wanted, you know? But I don\u2019t really know what\u2019s going to happen. I don\u2019t have any clue.\u201d<\/p>\n The trade-deadline decision is connected to another choice the Bulls must make this summer \u2014 whether to re-sign either White or Ayo Dosunmu, both of whom are in line to hit unrestricted free agency for the first time in their careers.<\/p>\n White is a more prolific scorer and ball handler. But Dosunmu is a better defender and more accustomed to filling a complementary role. Most importantly, he\u2019s expected to be considerably less expensive, which would allow the Bulls to maintain a through-line in their backcourt while still exploring the \u201cflexibility\u201d they\u2019re seeking after the expiration of up to eight contracts.<\/p>\n This is a notable shift for the Bulls, who once saw White as a budding young star who could be a building block with whom to create the foundation for their future success. Time passes quickly in the NBA. In his seventh season, White has become an awkward fit in a rapidly lengthening timeline for the Bulls\u2019 youth development project.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m getting older,\u201d White said. \u201cI\u2019m about to be 26, so I\u2019m not really that young in the league anymore in terms of being in the NBA. \u2026It depends on what direction they go in. If they just go into the total rebuild and go really young, super young, and just try to build over the years \u2014 if they feel like that\u2019s what\u2019s best for the organization, that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n This was never really White\u2019s team. Even in his breakout season as a Most Improved Player candidate, he was still always just a key part of the supporting cast behind Zach LaVine<\/a> and DeMar DeRozan<\/a>. Growing pains came and went when the Bulls moved White out of the point guard position last season in favor of Josh Giddey, a shift that began to re-center the offense around a new center of gravity.<\/p>\n Still, White has always been the heartbeat of the Bulls locker room. He marshals and rallies his teammates with the confidence of a captain. And although he is expected to at least test the market this summer if he remains in Chicago through the end of the season, White said he still feels the Bulls understand his value as both a player and a person.<\/p>\n