The Detroit Pistons will open the 2025-26 season tomorrow on the road against the Chicago Bulls and both teams will be missing their shooting guard.
Jaden Ivey has been ruled out and will be evaluated in a month, while Coby White will be out for at least two weeks, so neither team will be at full strength to start the season.
Both teams are also at a crossroads with these players as they both enter the season on expiring contracts and could be on the trade block before the February deadline.
Coby White is on a contract that was impossible to extend because of his lower annual salary and Jaden Ivey and the Pistons were unable to come to a rookie extension with Ivey before yesterday’s deadline, leaving both guys as free agents at the end of the season, but with one key difference that gives the Pistons leverage.
Jaden Ivey is still under Detroit Pistons’ team control
Coby White is on one of the best value contracts in the league, one the Bulls signed before White blossomed into the 20ppg scorer that he is now. White is going to get a huge raise and will be more apt to hold out for every dollar after signing a team-friendly deal on his last contract.
Jaden Ivey is in the opposite camp, as he is reportedly looking for big bucks that he has not yet earned, looking for a contract that pays him on his potential rather than achievements. There is a good chance that neither player will be on their respective team by the end of this season.
Of the two, Ivey is more likely to remain in Detroit, as he is a restricted free agent, while White will enter next offseason as an unrestricted free agent.
As long as the Pistons make Ivey the qualifying offer of around $13 million, they can match any offer sheet he gets from another team, so more or less still have team control that gives them leverage, as we saw with several restricted free agents this summer.
The Bulls will not have this leverage with White, who is free to take the most money and the Bulls have no say in the matter. The Bulls are at real risk of losing White for nothing, while the Pistons have more options to either re-sign Ivey, move him at the deadline or in a sign-and-trade after next season.
Both the Bulls and Pistons will start the season without their top shooting guards and will be dealing with the drama of their contracts all year.