As the Chicago Bulls prepare for the 2025-26 season, there are expectations that the team could take a step up from last season, where they were eliminated from the play-in tournament by the Miami Heat. With rumors surrounding the Bulls on the moves the team can make, one beat reporter suggests trading star Coby White.
Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times wrote a column on Sunday detailing how a deal involving White going to the Houston Rockets makes sense for both sides. Looking at Houston, he mentions the season-ending injury to Fred VanVleet that he sustained right before the start of the season and how a trade is the only way to find a suitable replacement.
Cowley believes White fills in that role “perfectly,” and with Chicago having a “crowded guard room,” a trade could be coming.
“Because of Houston’s payroll and the dried up free-agent market, a trade is the only real solution, and the Bulls just happened to have a player that fits the VanVleet role perfectly, and maybe even better. Enter Coby White,” Cowley wrote.
“White is in the final year of his current contract, informed the team several times that he would not be taking an extension until he hits free agency next summer, and is part of a crowded guard room,” Cowley continued.
Potential Coby White trade that is “win-win” for Bulls and Rockets
Cowley does bring up the Bulls giving Josh Giddey a $100 million contract extension and how, with other signings, White's role with the team could be lost. The reporter would even come up with a trade saying that White goes to the Rockets with Chicago getting Reed Sheppard and Tari Eason in return, calling it a “win-win for both teams.”
“The Bulls extended Josh Giddey for four years, $100 million several weeks ago, re-signed Tre Jones, still have Ayo Dosunmu, and aren’t sure what Dalen Terry is exactly,” Cowley wrote. “Factor in Kevin Huerter in the final year of his contract, and plenty of guards to go around. A White for Sheppard and disgruntled forward Tari Eason is a win-win for both teams.”
At any rate, it remains to be seen if the Bulls will trade White, as last season, he averaged a career-high 20.4 points on 45.3 percent shooting from the field and 37 percent from deep. Chicago opens the season on Oct. 22 against the Detroit Pistons.
