Chicago Bulls Reportedly Forced to Give Back Pick in Coby White Deal with Hornets

Those scrutinizing the Chicago Bulls trade deadline only got more ammo late Friday night.

According to The Athletic's Fred Katz, Arturas Karnisovas' trade that sent Coby White to the Charlotte Hornets has been changed after a physical revealed White's lingering calf injury. The guard is now expected to miss some time, and this will cost the Bulls one of their second-round picks.

The original trade saw White and Mike Conley Jr. (waived) head to the Hornets in exchange for three second-round picks, Collin Sexton, and Ousmane Dieng. They will now only receive two second-round picks back for the talented scoring guard – a 2031 New York Knicks pick and a 2031 Denver Nuggets pick. The pick the Bulls have seemingly lost is a 2029 second-rounder that would have been the least favorable of the Denver Nuggets and Charlotte Hornets (original picks reported via ESPN).

With the Bulls proceeding to flip Ousmane Dieng – a former lottery pick with the Thunder – to the Milwaukee Bucks for Nick Richards, here is a more complete look at the trade return:

Bulls get: 2031 second-round pick via NYK, 2031 second-round pick via DEN, Collin Sexton, Nick Richards
Hornets get: Coby White, Mike Conley Jr. (waived)

Chicago Bulls Forced to Tweak Coby White Trade

On the one hand, there are worse things than losing a 2029 second-rounder. Who the heck knows where that pick will land or if the Chicago Bulls will even put it to us? We all know they have not been above selling those selections in the past.

On the other hand, the optics of having to amend a trade are always bad. Most would have assumed that the Charlotte Hornets were well aware of White's injury trouble. He has played 29 of 52 games this season due to injuries to both calves. While he had been active over the last couple of weeks, the Bulls were still being careful with his workload. Did they really attempt to convince the Hornets that he was 100 percent? If so, did the Hornets really believe them?

Likewise, why even have Coby White on the floor for 30 minutes against the Bucks and Heat if the plan was to move him in the coming days? What is the Hornets' medical team seeing that the Bulls' didn't? He was seemingly healthy enough to play then (and post a double-double) so why not now?

The return for a player as talented as Coby White felt underwhelming from the jump. The Bulls were already selling low after kicking their feet and waiting too long to press the reset button. Once again, losing one 2029 second-rounder may not sting that much in the grand scheme of things, but this continues to speak to the questionable business this front office is doing behind the scenes. Simply put, it quite literally adds insult to injury.