Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the Minnesota Timberwolves are interested in trading for Coby White. While nothing is imminent, given the Wolves’ need for a point guard and the fact that White wouldn’t come at a higher price, this would make a lot of sense. White’s tremendous speed, playmaking and shooting would make him an ideal fit offensively for the Wolves.
Minnesota is on the hunt for a point guard and the Bulls’ Coby White is on their radar. It even makes sense to the stubborn director Arturas Karnisovas. The trading vultures are circling…
Read it…https://t.co/q96o5dXZqz
— Joe Cowley (@JCowleyHoops) December 11, 2025
However, there is one major problem with trading for White: he will be a free agent next summer. Cowley’s reporting revolved around the idea of Donte DiVincenzo, Terrence Shannon Jr. and exchange capital. By all accounts, it’s a reasonable package for a goalscorer of White’s caliber. Plus, acquiring someone for a $12.8 million deal isn’t a big financial commitment on the face of it.
Still, White’s impending free agency, as mentioned, complicates matters for a Wolves team that is close to the second tax platform.
A Coby White trade is riskier than you think
I’m not saying this should stop Wolves from trading for White. Overall, I think White is the most talented guard you can get for a reasonable price and would solve a lot of problems for the Wolves. Nevertheless, there’s no denying that White’s contract situation complicates matters.
Currently, the Wolves are expected to be $8 million under the second platform. So there is some wiggle room they could use to re-sign him this offseason. The problem is that this projection is that the Wolves have five free agents (before White). Unless White is comfortable giving up some money, it would be difficult to re-sign him without diving into the second apron.
Now the Wolves have shown a willingness to move to the second platform, and that’s fine. However, if you move to the second apron (which carries not only heavy financial penalties, but also team-building penalties), you better ensure that your team can win a championship. For reference, the Cleveland Cavaliers are currently the only second apron team, and we saw every other team try to avoid this offseason.
What if the Wolves trade for White and they lose in the first round? I’m not saying that’s likely, but in the Western Conference it’s a real possibility. Would ownership then feel comfortable committing to this core? I don’t think so.
Even if they make a deep playoff run, it’s possible the Wolves will want to avoid the second platform given how limiting it is in terms of team building. With this in mind, the Wolves could look to trade one of their higher salaries (likely Rudy Gobert or Naz Reid) before free agency.
However, both Gobert and Reid have been essential to their success. How would the Wolves maintain their defense without Gobert? Likewise, their bench has struggled outside of Reid. Ultimately, White is certainly worth pursuing for Wolves, but it’s far from an easy move; in fact it would be quite risky.
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