Coby White was sad after learning that the Chicago Bulls traded Nikola Vucevic for Anfernee Simons on Tuesday night, as he considers Vucevic one of his closest friends on the roster.
‘‘I’ve been with (Vucevic) for (six seasons), and we’ve formed a really good relationship from on the court to off the court,’’ White told Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “He’s been a guy that was a believer in me from Day 1. Obviously, going to miss him a lot. Tough day. Like everybody else, I guess, it’s part of the business. Be robots about it, I guess.
‘‘The narrative around is (that) it’s part of the business, but we’re still human. If you had a co-worker and he got let go or you had a co-worker and he took another job, you’re going to feel a certain way about it,” he added.
Besides trading Vucevic, the Chicago Bulls also traded Kevin Huerter and Dario Saric in a three-team deal involving the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Jaden Ivey, Mike Conley Jr., and a 2026 first-round protected swap.
Chicago Bulls News: Coby White gets 100% honest on being in the trade rumors
With the Chicago Bulls having a backcourt logjam, some of them will inevitably be traded to other teams, and Coby White knows he could be one of them, considering he’ll hit unrestricted free agency after this season.
However, if White had it his way, he would prefer to stay with the Chicago Bulls because this has been his home for the past six years.
“Obviously, I want to be here,” White said. “Yeah, like I said, I love my teammates. But at the end of the day, the front office is going to do what’s best for the team. I want this team to do nothing but succeed, but whatever they feel is best for the team. I just want to see everybody here win.”
