Chicago Bulls urged to trade their ‘best player’ in 2025

Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale listed five NBA teams that “should trade their best player,” and Chicago was one of them. This comes as there is a report that the Bulls already turned down a pretty substantial haul from the Orlando Magic for Coby White.

Favale admitted that White’s age means he can still align with the Chicago Bulls’ window, although he’s not sure they have set up a window or have a plan for the future. “Chicago locked in one of the league’s team-friendliest deals two summers ago when it signed White for three years and $33 million. That bargain is now a limitation. He is extension eligible, but the Bulls’ max offer tops out at four years and $80.8 million,” he added.

But that’s where the trouble begins. Favale doesn’t think White will or should sign such a deal. “There will be more cap space available next summer, when the 25-year-old’s four-year max from another team could reach $219.4 million. Chicago can roll the dice and assume he won’t get that much. And look, he probably won’t,” he said.

However, in Favale’s words, White has been on the “fringes of All-Star territory the past two seasons,” so it’s possible that some team will pay up if he continues his upward trajectory in 2025-26. “Paying White market value will be a risk for any team. It is flat-out counterintuitive for a Bulls squad nowhere near contention that may be about to shell out $150 million to re-sign Josh Giddey,”

Brutally honest, Favale said the Bulls should have traded White already, and there’s still time for them to move on and get some pretty good draft capital, especially if the Magic’s offer is any indication of what the market is for the former UNC guard.