Coby White is headed back home to North Carolina. A native of the Tar Heel State and of course, a University of North Carolina (UNC) alum, the 25-year-old spark plug guard has reportedly been dealt to his hometown Charlotte Hornets in a trade also sending veteran guard Mike Conley to Buzz City, while Collin Sexton, Ousmane Dieng, and three second-round picks go to the Chicago Bulls.
Raptors lose out on the opportunity to trade for Coby White
In the aftermath of yesterday's trade news, I noted that the Raptors had a perfect opportunity to add a key piece from Chicago, given the logjam in the Bulls’ backcourt. Ideally, I would love for the Raptors to target Ayo Dosunmu, as did my Raptors Rapture colleague Daniel O'Connor, but I also mentioned Coby White as an intriguing trade option.
Seeing what Coby White was eventually traded for — essentially pennies on the dollar, flipping Sexton for another scoring guard along with additional pieces — is a great move for the Hornets. Meanwhile, Toronto will need to consider alternative options if upgrading the backcourt remains a top priority, aside from their desperate need for frontcourt options.
However, I acknowledge that Toronto faces a different challenge than the Hornets did — namely, finding a way to acquire Coby White’s nearly $13 million expiring deal. I mentioned that Toronto could have attempted to do so with a combination of Ochai Agbaji (who’s now off the table), Gradey Dick, and some second-round picks, but that still wouldn’t help them get under the tax threshold.
In an ideal world, the Raptors could kill two birds with one stone. By tomorrow's deadline, if they could find a low-cost, high-impact backcourt option and adding a rim-running, energy-filled, defensively sound big man to help fill Jakob Poeltl’s extended absence and breathe life in the frontcourt — that would be the ultimate win.
Still, it would have been fun to see Coby White in the Raptors’ white and red, but now he’s back home in Buzz City, where I’m sure he’ll find a consistent role.