Kobe White, Mike Conley Jr. trade grades for bulls, hornets

on wednesday Chicago Bulls engaged in another three-way trade. This time with Charlotte Hornets and the Oklahoma City Thunder. That is reported for the first time by Shams Charania of ESPN on X, formerly Twitter.

as a result Coby White and Mike Conley Jr. they are going to charlotte. meanwhile, Collin Sexton and Ousmane Dieng are making their way to Chicago, along with three second-round picks.

White returns home to North Carolina and plays for his hometown team. Currently, White is averaging 18.6 points and 4.7 assists per game. In total, he played 29 games for the Bulls. White’s last game with Chicago was Tuesday against the Milwaukee Bucks.

He finished with a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds as the Bulls lost 131-115. Ultimately, White finished seven seasons with the Bulls. He was selected in 2019 from the University of North Carolina.

Conley Jr. was traded to the Bulls as part of the trifecta deal with the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday. The deal that brought Jaden Ivey to Chicago and sent Kevin Huerter and Dario Saric to the Pistons.

However, the buzz was that the Bulls would end up trading Conley. Connelly is an 18-year NBA veteran with strong veteran leadership and a solid reputation at the point guard position.

Sexton arrives in Chicago from Charlotte. He is averaging 13.9 points per game and shooting 48.8% from the field. Dieng comes from the Thunder and is shooting 41.8% from the field.

Given the uncertainty of what this means for the two young teams, here’s an assessment as deemed appropriate.

Bulls trade class

In terms of scoring, the Bulls get two young, consistent players. Each of them is shooting almost 50% from the field.

Secton adds more depth to the backcourt. Dieng is a strong perimeter player as a center/forward.

But from a financial standpoint, both are playing on expiring contracts, which adds flexibility. Plus, the Bulls are now up to 10 second-round draft picks.

If anything, the additions of Sexton and Dieng are all about creating more cap space. Although they are more affordable than white, they are not the complete package that is white. Besides, they don’t have the cash that the Whites have with the fans.

Furthermore, this begs the question of what are the real motivations in Chicago? What does Arturas Karnisovas want to build? Is there any real intent to build a winning team or create a power system for competing teams?

Given how conservative the Bulls are, this seems like the same old same old. And any hope in the play-in tournament is uncertain, and the play-offs are objectively out of the question.

Bulls trade grade: D+

Hornet merchant class

Whites, in particular, are freed from Chicago’s endless cycle of failure. A dynamic playmaker and scorer, he is in a great position to elevate his game.

clearly, signing Josh Giddy has shown who Chicago wants to build its team around with a four-year, $100 million deal. And after White declined the extension, the writing was on the wall all along.

In Charlotte, he will likely come off the bench. But he can provide three-point shooting, backcourt depth and a playmaking team it could make a playoff run.

His style can naturally complement a solid core in LaMelo Ball, Kon Knueppel and Brandon Miller.

Conley brings that veteran leadership and postseason experience. He played in over 100 playoff games during his career. Plus, he’s affordable playing out the final year of his $10.8 million contract.

Trade class of hornets: B