MN Timberwolves Have Trade Offer Out on Starting NBA Guard

Minnesota Timberwolves trade rumors - Coby White - Chicago Bulls guard
Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images

Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly has been on the hunt for a new starting point guard since he was given the cold-shoulder by Kevin Durant last offseason.

Unfortunately, just like with his pursuit of KD, Connelly is finding it awfully difficult to get what he wants out on the NBA trade market. When questions rose, yet again, around Ja Morant and his viability in Memphis, the Wolves were one of the few teams reported as being interested.

This week, the same kind of rumors were being floated about Kyrie Irving, who is trying to return from injury early in the new year. And yet again, the first team listed with interest in the elite ball-handler was the MN Timberwolves.

Minnesota Timberwolves targeting Chicago Bulls guard

And now, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, Tim Connelly has set his sights on a guard in Chicago.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have been big-game hunting for a point guard.

There were rumors that they inquired about Memphis’ Ja Morant, have kicked the tires on Kyrie Irving, and now have their sights set on a more realistic target. That’s where the Bulls come in.

Joe Cowley – Chicago Sun-Times

Coby White entered the NBA at just 19 years old, but he made an immediate impact for a 2019-2020 Chicago Bulls team that won just 22 games (of 65) during a rookie season shortened by the pandemic, averaging 13.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.7 points per game.

After a couple more seasons of losing while White developed his NBA game, the Bulls tried to make an a run at Eastern Conference contention in 2022-23, after acquiring DeMar DeRozan that offseason.

With the arrival of Patrick Beverley, and the arrival of another young talent, Ayo Dosunmu, White’s production plummeted to the lowest of his career (9.7 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 2.8 APG). Worse yet, the Bulls finished under .500 yet again.

Since then, not even a roster stacked with young backcourt talent has been able to hold Coby White back from becoming a problem for NBA opponents. In 2023-24, the former UNC standout was back up to averaging 19.1 points per game (4.5 RPG, 5.1 APG), a number that rose to 20.4 (3.7 RPG, 4.5 APG) in 2024-25.

Related: Anthony Edwards EXTREMELY Confident He Can Carry Timberwolves

But now, after the 25-year-old sat out the first part of the Bulls season with a calf injury, Chicago is 2-5 since Coby White returned to the floor, and 9-14 on the season. And if the losing continues, they’ll have no choice but to put up the “For Sale” sign on the in-season trade deadline market, in which White would be the first to go.

Bulls want to wait on Coby White, Wolves do not

But there’s a caveat. Minnesota doesn’t want to wait until the deadline. Tim is reportedly itching to make a deal right now and seemingly has an ultimatum-style offer on the table for Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas, to get the deal done right now.

According to Cowley’s source, the Wolves’ offer has Coby White heading West on I-94 — with Donte DiVincenzo, Terrence Shannon Jr (plus at least one draft pick) heading the East.

According to a source, Coby White has been inquired about, and time is of the essence in the Bulls making a decision. The source said that Minnesota is not looking to wait until February and the trade deadline to get a deal done, looking to fix the primary ball-handling situation that’s been an issue all season long for them.

If the ship is sinking like it has the last few weeks, why not start playing that card to bring in different bodies but also try and add future draft assets?

Joe Cowley – Chicago Sun-Times

It doesn’t sound like there is a good reason behind why the Bulls would turn this Timberwolves trade offer down. Even Cowley, a Bulls reporter, is struggling to find a way out of for Chicago, given what Minnesota has on the table.

MN Timberwolves offer for Coby White too good for Bulls to say no?

Yes, White gives the Bulls depth and flexibility, but so would the addition of DiVincenzo and Shannon Jr. Karnisovas may “like to zig when the world has been screaming for him to zag”, as the Chicago Sun-Times writer lays out, but this deal may be too good to turn down..

Nonetheless, it sounds like a Bulls loss on Friday on the road in Charlotte could be enough to push their head decision-makers to take the Minnesota Timberwolves offer sitting in front of them.

Throw in a draft pick [with DiVincenzo and Shannon Jr], and Karnisovas at least has to weigh his options.

Then again, the executive has spent his six years in this chair with the Bulls zigging when the world has been screaming for him to zag.

Either way, the Bulls game in Charlotte is taking on a bit more magnitude than just a Dec. 12 regular-season contest, and the clock is ticking.

Joe Cowley – Chicago Sun-Times
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