The Cavs’ perfect Kobe White trade offer for the Bulls

The The Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t been nearly as good this season as were previous campaigns. In fact, the decline was precipitous. After the Cavs’ disappointing 126-124 loss on Christmas Day to the New York Knicks, Cleveland now owns a disappointing 17-15 record.

For reference, the Cavs lost all 18 games last season — they could match that total before the calendar even turns to 2026, given that they’ll face three winning teams in the Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs and Phoenix Suns before January begins.

Suffice to say, the Cavs are not where they imagined they would be at this point in the season. Many thought they would continue to build off their 64-win campaign in 2024-25, putting their disappointing playoff run against the Indiana Pacers in the rearview mirror. But a combination of injury problems and underperformance is taking its toll on Cleveland through the first third of the 2025-26 campaign, and some changes may be on the horizon to save the league’s most expensive team.

One trade target that emerged for The Cavs have Chicago Bulls guard Kobe White. White is making $12.8 million in the final year of his contract, and the Bulls could eventually buy him out to at least acquire something of value before he is released.

One would think the last thing the Cavs need is another guard. But talent is talent, and White can certainly improve the team — or at least relieve his ledger of some financial obligations in the future.

Here’s a trade package the Cavs could possibly put together for White.

Cavs hit soft reset, clearer future commitments

Cavs acquire: Coby White, Aio Dosunmu, Kevin Huerter, 2026 POR first round pick (lottery protected)

Bulls gain: Darius Garland

The most obvious point of contention for the Cavs amid their struggles this year is their backcourt pairing of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell. The duo has produced so many regular season wins for Cleveland over the past three seasons, but now that those regular season wins have dried up, breaking up that partnership seems to make more sense than ever.

Reports indicated that The Cavs won’t be making any seismic changes midseason they may be inclined to do so in the offseason after waiting to see how things shake out for them this season. This makes sense; Cleveland has been riddled with injuries all year, with Garland and Jarrett Allen missing time here and there and Evan Mobley only recently returned from calf strain.

When the Cavs get all their key guys back and still don’t run away to the top of the East standings, then a roster overhaul would make sense. To that end, trading Garland for a package led by White could make sense for Cleveland.

It doesn’t seem to make much sense for the Cavs to trade for White while still holding on to Garland. The last thing Cleveland would want to add to their roster is another small guard. It only makes sense to bring white when they give up another small guard in exchange, which is why Garland goes to the Windy City in this scenario.

There is no question that Garland is a better player than White; he’s a much better playmaker than the Bulls’ guard, and has the advantage of having synergy with the rest of the Cavs’ roster. Garland also has a higher production ceiling than White (may be a more efficient scorer).

But the gap in quality between the two is not that big at all. The Cavs will sorely miss Garland’s overall composure and unselfishness on the floor, but both can still struggle defensively due to their lack of size and would become a major liability whenever opposing teams look for mismatches in the postseason.

The difference, however, is that The Cavs will save a ton of future money in this scenario. Garland has a big contract over the next three seasons, making $39.4 million, $42.1 million and $44.9 million, respectively. Giving away that much money to a small guard when Mitchell is the team’s best player may not be the best allocation of resources in today’s NBA.

The contracts of White, Ayo Dosunmu and Kevin Huerter expire at the end of the 2025-2026 campaign, and with Cleveland up to their necks in paying the luxury tax and given that they are in the second apron, getting financial relief could be their goal if they decide to replace four members of their core.

Not that Dosunmu and Huerter won’t also help the Cavs. The former has always brought a spark off the bench, doing all the little things that add up to a win, while the latter could help fill in as the team’s go-to scorer amid Max Struss’ injury woes.

Since the Cavs aren’t committed long-term to any of these three players, they could opt to come off the bench instead of rolling with Mitchell at point guard with Jaylon Tyson and De’Andre Hunter on the wings. This should at least help alleviate Cleveland’s defensive woes in the hinterland.

As for the Bulls, it’s easy to see why they would make this trade. For starters, this trade will get them an All-Star guard without a huge cost in future assets. That Portland Trail Blazers first-round pick is lottery-protected until 2028 and will turn into a second-round pick if not transferred by then. Given how stacked the West is, there’s a possibility that pick could be presented as a runner-up.

They also need more talent, and pairing Josh Giddy in the backfield makes more sense given that Giddy is 6’8″ and not nearly as big a defensive liability as Garland.

The Bulls don’t look like they have a plan to build a roster anyway, leaving them in an accumulation phase. And restoring Garland’s value as a key player in Chicago could help get them more assets moving forward. Or they could always build around a two-time All-Star forward.