By February 4, 2026
Photo: Michael Berg / AP
With less than 24 hours untill the NBA trade deadline, the Charlotte Hornets made a surprisingly aggressive move, trading for Bulls guard Coby White. A former Tar Heel and North Carolina native from Goldsboro, White spent seven seasons with Chicago after being selected seventh overall in the 2019 draft following one season in Chapel Hill.
Charlotte sits just three games behind the eighth-placed Orlando Magic after surging to a 12- 6 record since January 1, including their current seven-game winnning streak. The Hornets’ front office clearly believes a playoff push is realistic, and White could be the backup point guard who helps get them over the line.
What did Charlotte trade away?
As we noted earlier this year, Colin Sexton was always the Hornets player most likely to be moved, and that expectation has now been realized.
The Hornets sent out expiring guard Collin Sexton, Ousmane Dieng, and three second-round picks — specifically the least favorable of Charlotte’s or Denver’s in 2029, plus New York’s 2031 and Denver’s 2031 selections. This followed Charlotte’s earlier deal in the day with Oklahoma City, where Mason Plumlee was traded for Dieng and a 2029 second-rounder, the more favorable of Atlanta’s or Miami’s.
The Hornets have won six straight games for the first time since 2016 and are now just 5.5 games out of a top-six playoff seed.
Collin Sexton had a big game off the bench, going 5-for-5 from three-point range, finishing with 21 points in 18 minutes.🐝🔥pic.twitter.com/ROyxiBP2JT
— CLTure® ( culture ) (@CLTure) January 31, 2026
In return, Charlotte received Coby White and veteran point guard Mike Conley. Conley is widely expected to be bought out, with the possibility of joining a contender, including a potential reunion with Minnesota.
To simplify a messy multi-team sequence, the Hornets have essentially turned Sexton and two second-round picks into White. Zooming out further, Charlotte initially flipped Vasilije Micic and Cody Martin into Jusuf Nurkic, who later became Sexton, and has now effectively become White plus a future 2029 first-round pick. It is an impressive run of asset management — the NBA equivalent of turning water into wine.
How will Coby White help the Hornets?
White, 25, has been a regular starter for Chicago over the past three seasons and is currently in the final year of his $12.8 million contract. He will become an unrestricted free agent this summer, but the Hornets are betting on resigning him.
He is a true combo guard, spending roughly half of his minutes at both point guard and shooting guard over the past two seasons. In Charlotte, White projects as the lead guard for the second unit, taking ball-handling pressure off rookie Sion James, who has at times looked overburdened in that role.
White is a bursty, downhill scorer who is difficult to contain on the perimeter and can also shoot at volume from deep. Like Sexton, he leans into scoring first, but he is more secure with the ball and a more reliable playmaker.
Over the past three seasons as a starter, White has averaged 19.5 points, 4.8 assists, and 4.1 rebounds, while shooting 45 percent from the field and 37 percent from three. While those numbers are similar to Sexton’s final year in Utah, White’s production has come with a greater impact on winning, as Chicago hovered around the play-in picture while the Jazz remained near the bottom of the Western Conference.
White also gives Charlotte a high-end insurance policy if LaMelo Ball misses further time with injuries, raising the Hornets’ floor for the remainder of the season.
Will Coby White leave in the offseason?
White is extension-eligible and could sign a deal worth up to four years and $87 million. However, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, White declined to engage in extension talks with the Bulls and made clear his intention to explore unrestricted free agency in 2026. Whether that stance changes now that he is home in North Carolina remains to be seen.
Even if White does test the market, a return to Charlotte is very much in play. By acquiring him now, the Hornets inherit his Bird rights, allowing them to re-sign White for any salary, regardless of their cap space. This is commonly referred to as pre-agency, where teams trade for players ahead of free agency to secure negotiating advantages and reduce competition on the open market. The muted trade market for his services at this deadline may indicate his free agency value will not be as large as White had hoped. If White finds both personal and team success over the second half of the 25-26 season, both sides could be motivated to extend the partnership.
A reasonable projection for White’s market is high-end backup guard money in the $15 to $22 million range. Andrew Nembhard’s recent extension with Indiana, which averages $19.5 million annually, is a useful comparison.
If White ultimately walks and Charlotte receives nothing in return, it is fair to question whether giving up three second-round picks for a six-month push toward the eighth seed was worth it. Given the relatively low cost, it is a risk worth taking.
Why buy out Mike Conley?
While Conley’s veteran presence could theoretically help the second unit, Charlotte does not have the minutes or the need to play both Conley and White. At this stage of their careers, White is clearly the superior player.
The Hornets also have a recent track record of buying out veteran guards with championship aspirations, having done so with Kyle Lowry in 2024 and Reggie Jackson in 2023. This move was never about adding Conley on the floor. Taking on his salary was simply part of the cost of acquiring Coby White.
Will Charlotte Make Any More Trades?
After waiving Conley, Charlotte will have a vacant roster spot they could look to fill via the trade market. There have been rumblings that the Hornets are exploring frontcourt depth after moving on from Plumlee, and Tre Mann’s future appears increasingly uncertain following the addition of Coby White. Another move to re-balance the roster would not be a surprise.
Read next:
