3 Coby White trades the Chicago Bulls should make

1. Minnesota Timberwolves

Chicago Bulls receive: Jordan McLaughlin, Leandro Bolmaro, No. 48 pick in 2022 NBA Draft, 2023 first-round pick via Minnesota (top-eight protected, becomes 2025/2027 second-round picks via Minnesota if not conveyed)

Minnesota Timberwolves receive: Coby White

The Timberwolves had a bench scoring issue against the Memphis Grizzlies in their 2022 first-round NBA Playoff series. In particular, there was no lead guard that had the ability to score and handle/facilitate the offense. In fact, in their two final losses of the season to the Grizzlies only one bench player scored in double-figures in both games — Taurean Prince (Game 5) and Jaden McDaniels (Game 6).

That simply will not get the job done once the postseason hits.

Enter White for Minnesota, a guard who is malleable enough to fit alongside any of the core Timberwolves players offensively. The Wolves would miss McLaughlin’s steal percentage (98th percentile among point guards) but White is much more capable of getting a bucket than McLaughlin is from beyond the arc and provides spacing for the Minnesota offense. White is also almost four years younger than McLaughlin and has the ability to grow into the Timberwolves’ core and adapt — especially defensively — to what Minnesota wants to be.

For Chicago, this trade looks like a loser in terms of talent coming back. McLaughlin is a sneaky good player without name recognition, but beyond that 12-14 minutes a night behind a hopefully healthy Lonzo Ball and the “very much a project” Leandro Bolmaro this deal does not make the Bulls better now.

What it does do, however, is get Chicago a pretty hefty trade piece.

Minnesota, under new ownership Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez as well as team leadership with Tim Connelly, surely sees themselves as a team that is likely to rise up the ranks of the Western Conference. They are looking to deal and get better in the here and now. White provides needed scoring as a reserve without parting with any major cog in the Timberwolves rotation (McLaughlin and Bolmaro were 11th and 14th in minutes played) — that’s big.

But so is a possible lottery pick in 2024 if things do not go well among the Anthony Edwards/Karl-Anthony Towns/D’Angelo Russell (assuming they cannot move him in a separate deal) triumvirate.

The Bulls could use that pick for a future trade of their own, or look to a possible lottery selection from a franchise that has, historically, not been a playoff contender consistently. It’s a bet that with internal improvement/health from other Western Conference teams, the Timberwolves are not likely to live long among the postseason squads out west. It’s also a chance at late-Lottery talent considering the past of the Minnesota franchise.

The Timberwolves feel they were on par with the rising Memphis Grizzlies in their series, and perhaps just need a tweak here and there to add to their core. This deal allows for them to keep No. 19 in this draft while also adding a player like White to a formidable young roster with a key veteran presence. It should set up the Wolves to stick around in the playoff hunt.

Yet, if it doesn’t…the Bulls would have acquired a very good asset to get their own roster in order. And precedent suggests it’s a bet worth taking.