The Chicago Bulls have become the NBA's poster child for mediocrity, yet the organization seemingly has no motivation to get significantly better or significantly worse. A league-shaking trade to bring Atlanta Hawks superstar Trae Young to the Windy City would certainly be a step in one direction or the other, but would it take the Bulls forward or backward?
Young is one of the league's most divisive players. Depending on who you ask, he's either a long-range sniper and high-level playmaker or a small, defensively challenged shot-chucker. He's fiercely competitive or obnoxiously brash.
But what's undeniable is that Young is an elite offensive player who would make any team in the NBA more dangerous on that end of the floor. That includes the Bulls.
Bulls trade Coby White to Atlanta Hawks for Trae Young in proposed deal
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report put together a list of five trades that would make sense if Atlanta decides to move on from its franchise point guard this season. The one that includes Chicago looks like this:
Chicago Bulls
Atlanta HawksYoung's future with the Hawks has been a topic of discussion since last season. After taking Atlanta to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021, Young hasn't gotten his team out of the first round. The Hawks missed the playoffs entirely each of the past two seasons.
With Jalen Johnson, 2024-25 Most Improved Player and All-Defensive Team selection Dyson Daniels, and former No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Rissacher forming the beginnings of a new core, a diminutive, ball-dominant guard like Young doesn't seem to have a long-term place in Atlanta.
Add in a $46 million salary this season and a max extension on the horizon, and it becomes easy to see why the Hawks would want to move on.
Turning Young into a cheaper, albeit far less productive, guard like White -- who will help run a more egalitarian offense -- seems like a fine alternative plan. Add in a future first-round pick and more than $20 million in expiring salaries in Huerter and Carter, and Atlanta would have itself set up for an intriguing future.
Grading a Trae Young-Coby White trade proposal for the Bulls
The outcome of this deal starts and ends with the elephant(s) in the room: How would Young fit next to another ball-dominant guard in Josh Giddey, and how would Chicago ever hope to build an even league-average defense with those two?
With White injured to start this season, we're seeing what Giddey can do with another floor general in the back court next to him with Tre Jones, and the returns have been outstanding. Chicago hasn't missed a beat without White and, arguably, has
If the Bulls don't want to give White a new deal worth $30 million or more annually, using their massive amount of cap space to absorb Young and upgrade that spot would work. For all of Giddey's strengths, he's not good enough to be the top ballhandler on a championship-caliber team. Adding Young and moving him to a secondary role makes sense.
Moving Huerter and Carter wouldn't make a difference in this scenario. Parting with a first-round pick could, but if the Portland Trail Blazers make the playoffs this year, the Bulls would have a spare to give up. And if this trade ever does come to fruition, presumably, Chicago would be picking in the 20s.
Plenty of questions would come with this deal. Defense would be a serious concern, but a core of Giddey, Matas Buzelis and Young, with a potentially elite defender like Noa Essengue in the fold, would give the roster a higher ceiling. And it wouldn't come at an exorbitant cost.
