Bulls land All-Star forward in bold insider trade proposal

Bulls land All-Star forward in bold insider trade proposal originally appeared on The Sporting News

The Chicago Bulls under team president Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley have mismanaged their positional depth for years.

The team's backcourt is fairly full, while its frontcourt has been thin for years. Last season, Chicago dished out big minutes to starters Josh Giddey and Coby White, with Ayo Dosunmu, Tre Jones, Lonzo Ball and Kevin Huerter all logging significant run off.

For years, head coach Billy Donovan has been compelled to play undersized guards and wings at power forward and center. In the past, 6-foot-4 shooting guard Javonte Green and 6-foot-5 swingman Derrick Jones Jr. have notched major time at the four and five, respectively.

Last season, the biggest issue was Patrick Williams, whom the Bulls have routinely tried to cast as the club's starting power forward. It's clear that he's more of a small forward, and lacks the aggression on either end of the hardwood to play major minutes at the four.

Chicago addressed some of its guard issues this summer, selecting forward Noah Essengue with the No. 12 pick in the draft and flipping Ball for former Cleveland Cavaliers reserve forward Isaac Okoro, a better defender than Williams who is, sadly, similarly recalcitrant about building out his arsenal and producing more offensively.

A surprising new three-team blockbuster trade proposal from Alan Goldsher of Fantasy Sports On SI sees Chicago addressing its mismatched personnel a bit more by offloading a key guard to land an exciting young All-Star combo forward.  

Bulls receive: Forward Scottie Barnes

Heat receive: Guard Coby White, center Zach Collins, lottery-protected 2027 Chicago first-round draft pick

Raptors receive: Guard Tyler Herro, lottery-protected 2028 Miami first-rounder

Losing White, the Bulls' best player, would hurt.

But with Chicago poised to re-sign restricted free agent Giddey — and with Dosunmu, Jones and Huerter all still on the roster and available for a bigger role — the team could afford to let White go now and get value back rather than re-signing him for a massive new annual fee when he hits unrestricted free agency next summer.

The 6-foot-5 North Carolina product submitted his most prolific pro season yet, averaging a career-best 20.4 points on .453/.370/.902 shooting splits. That 37.0 percent long range clip arrived on a career-most 7.9 attempts. He also notched averages of 4.5 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 0.9 steals a night.

Coby White became a 20+ PPG scorer last season... and is getting in on the NBA Handles Week party 🥳 pic.twitter.com/G4Dl7Li4VT

— NBA (@NBA) August 1, 2025

Barnes, a 6-foot-7 Florida State product, averaged 19.3 points 44.6 percent shooting from the floor and 75.5 percent free throw shooting, 7.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 blocks a night. He would represent a major upgrade over Williams and Okoro (one of whom, ideally, the Bulls could include in another deal), as a defense-first forward who can command an offense within the painted area.

The 2022 Rookie of the Year and an All-Star in 2023-24, Barnes has yet to develop much of a stroke beyond the arc. In his best season — the aforementioned All-Star year — Barnes connected on a career-most 34.1 percent on 4.9 takes from distance, still below the league average rate.

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