The scouting report was unsolicited.
Coby White sat in front of his locker after a game in Charlotte on Dec. 12 and began raving about “The Rook.”
White said Hornets sharpshooter Kon Knueppel was as advanced a first-year player as he could remember in his seven years in the NBA.
Well, the two are about to become real close acquaintances.
Continuing with their roster overhaul, the Bulls sent White, their longest-tenured player, and newly acquired Mike Conley Jr. to the Hornets on Wednesday for Collin Sexton, Ousmane Dieng — acquired from the Thunder — and three second-round picks.
This latest move came within 24 hours of trading Nikola Vucevic to the Celtics for Anfernee Simons and a swap of second-round picks and dealing Kevin Huerter and Dario Saric in a three-team trade that landed Jaden Ivey and Conley.
And, according to a source, the Bulls aren’t done. More moves will be attempted before the 2 p.m. deadline Thursday, and more business is expected in July, when the financially flexible Bulls can start trying to poach restricted free agents that fit the timelines of Matas Buzelis, Josh Giddey and Ivey.
Coach Billy Donovan hinted that the deadline would yield only the first iteration of this roster rebuild.
“I understand that those guys [in the front office] are investing a lot of time on the phone right now,” Donovan said. “I’m sure it’s very hectic. They’ve always been really good — the front office — in giving me a heads-up when things are going to happen, things that they want to do. Those conversations as we move forward, there will be a next iteration to that down the road.”
Bulls executive vice president Arturas Karnisovas did a solid for Vucevic by sending him to an Eastern Conference contender. He was initially surprised by the trade and his new team. Over the weekend, the Warriors were the only organization Vucevic thought was in play, and that was a long shot.
Huerter and White also found upgrades. Huerter landed on the Pistons, the top contenders in the East, and White, a North Carolina native, is going home to join Knueppel on one of the NBA’s hottest teams.
But where does all this movement leave the Bulls?
Well, they’re still working the phones with a lot of focus on the Pelicans and Rockets, according to a source.
Simons and Sexton are free agents after the season and are still in play to be moved, and Ayo Dosunmu is being sought, but the Bulls would have to be blown away to part with him. Buzelis, Giddey and Ivey are keepers — not untouchables — and Dosunmu, who’s also a free agent, is a close fourth.
Ideally, the Bulls would like to re-sign him this summer, but everything is fluid.
The obvious question now is: What’s the plan for the frontcourt? The Bulls have been linked to Zion Williamson, but the Pelicans haven’t budged.
The Rockets’ Tari Eason has been in play, and Pelicans big man Yves Missi was discussed, but a stalemate resulted.
Karnisovas has a lot of money to spend and can get in a bidding war for restricted free agents Bennedict Mathurin, Jalen Duren, Walker Kessler and Eason. If he could land any of those players now, the Bulls would have matching rights in a market that doesn’t have a lot of money to spend.
Either way, it’s an ambitious plan, but at least it’s a direction for the Bulls.
Two key players were traded Tuesday, leaving the Bulls small and short-handed. Life without center Nikola Vucevic and guard Kevin Huerter has started.
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Things continue to be fluid as the NBA trade deadline approaches.
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Vucevic said the team would move forward with or without the front office adding help at the trade deadline Thursday, but if the Bulls want to break out of the middle of the pack in the East, they need more firepower.
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