BOSTON – After six years of the same old, same old there is very little anxiety for this time of the season.
Coby White is numb to it all.
So when the Bulls point guard was pressed about another February trade deadline approaching and his team again churning through the rumor mill, it was almost a shrug of the shoulders at this point.
“We get to play basketball every day and it’s a blessing to be here, so I wouldn’t say anxious,” White said on Wednesday when asked about the latest batch of trade rumors surrounding the team. “This is my sixth year here, and I’m pretty sure every single year I’ve been here this has been the case, whether it was anybody (in the rumors), myself included. I think once you get those years in, like for me you just learn it’s out of your control. Whatever happens you’ve just gotta let it play out and deal with the cards you’re dealt.”
Plus, White had more pressing concerns. Specifically, playing a Celtics squad looking to exact some revenge on the Bulls for an upset win they pulled off the last time they visited Boston in December, and now having to do so without leading scorer Zach LaVine.
A recipe for disaster, and one that played out that way, as the Celtics beat the Bulls 122-100.
Bulls coach Billy Donovan didn’t have to look very far at what went wrong for his team in the rematch. Especially when he could pick up the box score and see 27 points allowed off 15 turnovers, with the Bulls (20-28) allowing 20 of those points in the first half.
“They capitalized on the turnovers,” Donovan said. “They turned them into points, and then obviously the other part was the fouling.”
Boston went to the free throw line 27 times while the Bulls visited it 12 times.
And while White led the Bulls with 16 points, he really didn’t want to dwell on trade talk and rumors. He’s more than aware of their existence, both with the Bulls and around the league, but doesn’t want to live in that world.
“You can’t control what moves they make,” White said. “There’s a lot of stuff going around for the league in general, so it is what it is. I take it with a grain of salt. We’re trying to win games so that’s what we’re focused on.”
Until it isn’t.
The Feb. 6 trade deadline is now less than a week away, and the Bulls, like most of the Association, are still waiting to see what happens with Jimmy Butler and the Heat. If Butler is moved, that could be the first domino to fall and could even be a multi-team deal that the Bulls try to get involved in, according to a source.
To add some more intrigue into the trade drama, Sacramento point guard De’Aaron Fox could also be on the move, as the Kings try to salvage their disappointing season.
The Sun-Times reported earlier in the week that executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas is open for business, looking to dump cargo and finally pick a lane toward rebuilding. LaVine, Nikola Vucevic and Lonzo Ball are the obvious targets, but don’t rule out White being on the move or smaller pieces like a Torrey Craig.
Whatever happens, Donovan admitted that this has definitely been a unique deadline year, just from the standpoint of the cold war going on in Miami with Butler or now Fox being shopped.
“It certainly feels like there have been players around this time that have made statements or made it clear that they are not going to be returning and, ‘I need to be moved.’ “ Donovan said. “I don’t know if it’s just a one-off year, but certainly it’s been out there publicly which has been a little bit different.”