Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Transition: Bulls trade Coby White to Hornets

Episode Date: February 4, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Marshall Harris welcomed on Matt Spiegel and Laurence Holmes for the daily transition segment.

I'm even more handsome in FM. That's what I found. I don't think it works like that. Yes. Yeah. You run faster and jump higher is what I was told. Yeah, I think that's what it does, Marshall. You can take your fancy radio acumen and your television history and your manicured jawline and you say that that's not how it works.

But for those of us over here, I'm much more handsome on the FM. That was Danny Parkins. we thank him and Kendall Gill for joining our show. We have some breaking news. Shams Sharadia, we asked the question at noon. Did we see Kobe White's last game as a bull? We did. The Bulls are trading Kobe White and Mike Conley Jr.

To the Charlotte Hornets for Colin Sexton, Usman Jang, and three second round picks. The reply underneath was hilarious because it was like, Jang finding out that he got traded as a member of the Hornets while being an active member of the Thunder. Funny joke. But Kobe White, to the Hornets. So Kobe gets to go home. Yeah, he is from North Carolina. Kobe White is the number one score,

the number one score in the history of North Carolina High School basketball. Number one. So, yeah, he gets to go home. That's pretty cool. And Uzman Jang, by the way, I had to Google. 22-year-old Frenchmen. They love themselves and Frenchmen. Well, he was part of that 22 draft.

11th overall pick by the Knicks. 22. Did you finish all of your Mike Connolly draft pick stuff? Do you want to get all that material out? I'm so glad. Because it was Joe Keem's draft, wasn't it? Mike Conley? I'm so glad I used a lot of it, Lawrence, yesterday. You're right. Because what was your favorite moment of the Mike Connolly era? Or the Dario Serra. It was where we brought up Zibo as part of the Grizzlies. Yeah. Mike Connolly's draft was Joachim Noah. Aaron Aflalo was in Mike Conley's draft. I haven't thought about it.

that man in a long as time. So yeah, Faddeus Young part of Mike Conley-Rat. That was my favorite part of the Mike Conley era. What about Fattius? He's a former bull. I know. We got to bring up Thadius Young yesterday. I mean, that's like let's have fun naming guys.

That's what we do around here sometimes. Name guys is true. So that trade coming through via Sham Sharania. Thanks to Ray Diaz, Tyler Bearderbaugh, Brandon Friar. Thanks to Connor O'Donnell, Jacob Stutz, Max Curtis, and Cody Westerlin. And those are the voices of Lawrence Holmes and Matt Spiegel.

Hi, guys. What's interesting about this, fellas, is that guard out, guard in. Colin Sexton, is he going to get moved now, turned around quickly? That's a dude who shoots 39% from three. And who has really had a kind of strong resurgence to his career being a rotation piece. And the Hornets, by the way, will soon be in the 10 spot, which means the Bulls will be in the 11 spot because the Hornets have already won seven games in a row. And they're about to pass the Bulls and get into the play-in.

that opens conversations about tanking because the last time I checked, they still have a very undersized basketball club. Yeah, it's interesting. Like the Bulls and what's going on, what's going on with them is something we'll figure out. But like Colin Sexton and the Hornets, they're building a little something. I don't know if anybody saw the Cooper Flagg Con Cniple game last week. It was beautiful.

Dude, Cooper Flagg had 49 and missed the game winner at the buzzer and his high, his college roommate and teammate, Khan Kinnipple, I think, had eight threes and was brilliant. And Jason Kitts, tired of you asking about it, quite frankly. Amazing. Yes, he really is right. But, like, Charlotte is building a little something with Lamello and Knapple, and it was with

Sexton. It's more than a little something. Yeah, it's with... Seven straight, and Kahn Knapple's been the best rookie not named Cooper Flag this season, and he will have an argument for that rookie to do. Do you remember there was a hot week where people were like, I'm going to tell you why Kahn Kinnipel should be the first overall pick instead of Cooper Flag. It was like a

week. But it was a week. And that, like, I didn't realize he was going to be this. I'll say it flat out. That's number two in the rookie of the year voting, and ought to be anyway. But I just Googled Colin Sexton, because like, and I read this that made me sad for him. Colin Sexton hopes to still be

part of the Hornets beyond Thursday. Quote, oh yeah, I definitely love it here. I love it in Charlotte. It's close to home. And I just love being a part of something. Being a part of culture change. I like being able to come in and be a vet to the young guys. So like that man has been

loving life as part of the Charlotte Hornets that we were just discussing and now he's a bull. And maybe he'll love it here or maybe he'll be somewhere else in a day and a half. He's 27. That doesn't fit the time table. What is the time table? I think Max's out at Giddy's age. Gideon Modis, so within three to four years.

I think the extreme is probably Simons if he's a bull after the trade deadline. He's 26. Yeah. So do you have a sure in your heart? That that's what they're doing? Do you feel strongly in your heart that that's what's happening here? You're saying, do you think the program may have changed? I don't know what the program is. Well, I tell you the stated program.

You heard what AK said. We want to get nine to ten guys, and they want it to be on the quote-unquote giddy, modest timetable. Those are the pieces so far. Now, when the tread deadline passes and hopefully AK gets in front of the media and answers questions about what has transpired over a week's time. Hopefully, Eversley gets in front of the media and explains it. That's fair. That's very fair. I don't know.

It was a little better this year and then pretty good with us on opening night. I think that's a different circumstance. I think Everisley is better in press conferences and, you know, Arturis is better in a sit-down. Would you guys like to have some more fun with names from that draft? Yes. So it gets wilder. One, Tiago Splitter was in that draft. Tiago Splitter's old, old.

Yes. He's coaching. He's coaching the Blazers now. Absolutely. So you've got that part of it. Tanny will appreciate this. I hear the brother from DePaul. Wilson Chandler was also in that draft that year.

That's how far. You want some more name speaks? Oh, I've got some names. There's another DePaul name way down. Did you see the other DePaul name that's in that draft? All the way down to the bottom. I thought of you when I looked at it. Oh, that's right.

Sammy Mejia was in that draft. What's the second round pick that year? Unbelievable. Here's some more for you. Rudy Fernandez. Javaris Cridentton. Yeah. Remember him?

That's the whole thing. Rodney Stucky. Remember people got excited for Rodney Stucky? From wherever. Marco Bellanelli. Oh, man. Hold on. I'm doing the Bellanelli.

That's right. Well, that's the move right there. Man, there are some names on this list right here. A quick aside on your Tiago Splitter mentioned and the fact that he coaches the Portland Trailblazers, who by the way have lost six straight games and who, by the way, the Bulls own the lottery protection. the pick of the Blazers, so if they just keep

losing, the Bulls can cash in, and that's another asset that you can throw with something, you know? Aaron Gray? In that draft? Speaking of assets. I covered Aaron Gray College. So did I.

So did I. That's crazy. I got no first round pick in a Kobe White trade. No first round pick in a Vooch trade. I mean, so they're not getting any. Are you surprised?

I'm a little surprised they couldn't get a one in a Kobe trade because like depends what you want from an asset you could take less in players and try to get a one like to not add a single one from all from all these deals surprises me because I'm glad they care about twos and they're stockpiling twos and that they do count but I thought they could get a one in a Kobe deal yeah the wizards want you to know those twos count because they can turn them into something called uh anthony davis and put together a team team and not give up there and the whole thing is don't give up your own first when you know your head is to the lottery. Lela, I got another name for you on this list.

Oh. Nick Young. What? Nick Young was in that draft? Was it the left arm was for tattoos and the right arm was for buckets? I believe that's how that goes. Say how it went? Oh, dude, Nick Young was fun and a little, priceless. Little wacky. Little bit wacky. Oh, shout out to H.F. Julian Wright was in that draft too.

It's all happening. For anybody who doesn't know, Anthony Davis is on the Wizards. Thank you, Marshall. Eight player trade. and now Anthony Davis can play along with Trey Young and they got a little something, something. They have Alex Sard. They also have the fifth tied for the fourth worst record in basketball so they could have a chance at a lottery pick. But Cooper Flagg, who is absolutely the real deal. Yes. A hundred percent the real deal.

Agreed. Now doesn't have to sort of deal with the Anthony Davis specter in terms of whose team is it if there was going to be one. Was he dealing with that? No, I mean like when he comes back and moving forward and things. like that. It's nice and clean if you're Jason Kidd and the Dallas Madras. Give me another name. Lawrence. Give me another name. Glenn Big Baby

Davis. Covered in college before he ended up in prison. Wasn't he on the plane with the Popeyes and all the money? Wasn't there a picture of him like I'm living life and I've got this Popeyes on this private jet? Speaking of that, anybody checked on Gilbert lately?

Well, I'm sure that Mr. Creditin with Oh, wow. Yee and Leon, also in this draft. That's amazing. If I can jump to the... I'm sorry, that's enough fun with names.

No, let me jump to the 2018 draft, where Colin Sexton, the new Bull. Roll tight. Was number eight overall in that draft. Ahead, or sorry, after the Bulls took, Wendell Carter Jr. At number seven. And in that same draft as Jaron Jackson

who just got traded, Luca Donchich, obviously. Did you watch the Luca highlights last night? Number one, DeAndre Aten, who's really just... Do you mean DeAndre Jordan? He is just a guy. And then a throw-in in the Anthony Davis deal today, just a body to help it move Marvin Bagley the third.

Number two in that draft. I was in Sacramento, and let me tell you, they're still not very happy. Look at all the players taken behind Marvin Bagley of the third, who was, what, the number two picking that draft. Number two, yeah, Luca, Jaron Jackson, Trey Young, Shea Gilgius Alexander,

both bridges, Mikkel and Miles. You see why there might be some frustration in the city of Sacramento. But I mean, it's crazy how this stuff ends up playing out. I believe that's the draft where everybody has been traded except for Miles Bridges,

if I'm not correct, as far as the first rounders go. You're right. Every single other person that I just mentioned has been traded. Nick Fizekis. Nick Fizekis. Nick Fizekis was part of that draft.

I don't remember. Nick Fizica. Out of Nevada? Man, wasn't as cold as Luca. So you didn't say nothing about Luca.

Luca was cold last night. See what he was doing? Playing a selfish ball. You guys made me laugh a lot today. Um, Um, Y, and Jigba,

that whole thing with Marshawn. And then I'm glad you played the Dremong Green. I've been harshing on him for a while now, because he does a lot of things that have at times been loathsome or disruptive or problematic. etc. But man, hearing him

like understand just how fortunate he is to have had 13 and a half years in one place and a place like that and not have to move his family. It was like, oh man, there's that soul that I know that I have a lot of respect for that sometimes you forget because he covers it up with a lot of you know, a lot of antagonistic craft. The thing about people is they're not, usually they're not all one thing or the other And I find myself toggling between with Draymond, loathing him and respecting the hell out of him.

And today, today, we kind of reset it back to respecting the hell out of him. My favorite thing about what Lawrence has said is when he paused and said usually, because that means a very specific person popped into your head like, but that, but bags exist. Who was it? Nobody's listening. Who is the person who popped into your head? I'll tell you mine. You guys want to know mine?

Yes. Nah, I'm not going to tell you. All right. It's Chris Tanna. Unbelievable. Like, no, seriously, I don't believe you. But Lawrence? I just said, because I'm staring right at him.

I knew I was in the safe space. But you know what I'm saying? When I heard you paused, it was a very specific. All of us are like, what is it? I'll tell you, the sports guy, Aaron Rogers? For me right now? Oh, there's probably some. I feel the way about Aaron Rogers that I do about Draymond.

Because I'll make the argument that he is the greatest regular season quarterback of all time. not about him as a person though. But I'm saying that... Because Draymond, I meant as him as a person. Well, even Aaron as a person, if you listen to what teammates have said about him, they feel differently than the public does about him. Some of them do. In the same way that Draymond carries that same...

This is what I'm saying, dude. Draymond also assaulted one of his teammates, whereas we don't know that Rogers ever did that. That kind of makes it a little different. Laila brings up a very valid. Yes, yes, the punch in the face and the sending away. And then we saw the video, which never should have gotten out. But that tells you everything you need to know about.

That does tell you something. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that was, I mean, that was preseason practice video. There's no way that gets out. Well, that's feisty, though. Preseason practice, man. That's really when, you know. Ruin their chances at another title, in my opinion.

That was the end. Interesting. That was the end. They had won four, and that's interesting. Like, that's a inflection point. I think it is the, I think that was the door. closing. Huh.

That was it. I never thought about it that way, but I think you might be right. Because look at what has happened since then. Yeah, because they fell apart. And the way that Kerr talked about that incident in the whole season, at the end of that season, was able to say that something clearly broke with them and they didn't have a chance that year. And they don't win the title without pool doing what he did in the title season.

Yeah. So you add it all up and break it all down. That is the moment when I was like, you know what? It's been a great run. as a run TMC forever kind of guy, but this ain't it. And I'm sure Steve feels a sense of regret for not letting that, you know, for letting that get so out of hand. Yeah.

He didn't come strong enough in a moment of crisis. All of us have spent a lot of time working as or with, like, respected journalist. And seeing what happened at the Washington Post today, like, is heartbreaking. Because we know a lot of people. We know, we actually know some of the people they've been on the score. airwaves that left other jobs and ended up at the Washington Post to have the Post go away. And one of the things that I keep thinking about with the Washington Post and like the

butterfly effect of stuff where you have the Washington Post during the 80s and that ends up bringing together a relationship that spawns a seismic change in sports television. when you have Wilbon and Kornheiser becoming colleagues and friends, and then them parling their friendship and their work relationship into PTI, which completely changed the way that not just sports is done on television. I make the argument that, and I talk with my students about this all the time, that PTI changed the way that news was covered. There was a first time that we started to see the rundown on a news program,

and that's because of what happened in PTI and you traced that all the way back to the Washington Post. So it sucks. And in an industry that continues to contract, it really, really sucks. The fourth estate is the enemy of a lot of powerful people. Facts. The ability to call power into question

is being watered down to say the least. There are fewer and fewer places where the ability to be, independent is out there. What I will say, if you're looking for any sort of hope, and I'm trying to provide some, not just for you, but for myself. Yeah, do that for me too. The hope is that because of contraction and all of this contraction and the homogenization of

news organizations and sports organizations and leagues being able to dictate coverage and all sorts of stuff, it opens the door for more independent media. It does. and we have seen that. It's just hard for the independent media to do what sanctioned and supported organizational media used to be able to do. I agree.

And that's what's difficult because, like, I was just watching the Jimmy Breslin Pete Hamill documentary on HBO Max highly recommend. So like New York City columnists who used to say problematic things about whoever, if it was the truth,

Brezlin would write about the cops, and the cops would be like, what the hell? And the newspaper would say, I'm sorry, that's how he feels and he might be right. So, sorry about that. Like, or whoever it was about, you know?

So organized and supported media like the Post going away is troubling. That's it. It's the backing of the organization to question authority. Yes. And there's a lot of people who listen to this station. You get real triggered when we question any type of authority.

And we're in sports. Yeah, no, but that's it. What Lawrence is saying and what you guys are saying, we're kind of a template for a lot of the ways that media has gone and can gone. So like we can question the Cubs even though we carry the game. We question the hell out of the bulls even though we carry the game. And we are supported by bosses who let that be the case. That's it.

It has to be. It's the resource backing. It's knowing that you're backed by attorneys and we have professional trading. And, you know, when you start to question those in power at the very highest levels, those are the people who tend to want to extinguish that questioning power pretty quickly because they also have resources. So that's where this gets dangerous. It's hard too for the consumer because there is a level of stamping that goes on

when someone works for a big box media company. And there are so many people that like, oh, I love this person. I love what this person used to write. well, how much do you truly love it? Do you love it enough to change your pattern? And the research says kind of no on that. Like if you love someone that does great work, well, are you supporting their substack?

Are you supporting their YouTube page? Are you supporting their podcast? And convincing people that that's a way to help with some of this, to, they can actually, that the consumer can actually do a job in a service of platforming the people who they deserve, they feel deserve to be platformed is also key. I really enjoyed the conscientious conversation we were having before the show about, like, what media are we paying for?

Like, who do we want to be paying for? Like, I'm thrilled to pay for the Chicago Tribune right now. I'm, I'm thrilled to pay for the athletic. Same. Right now. And, like, there were times where I got, like, the free subscriptions, like, and then it went away. I'm like, well, I'll just use printfriendly.com and try to look every once in a while.

all those things, but I'm making active choices. We have a responsibility as members of the media to do our part, I think, especially because we lean on some of those sources so hard in our day-to-day. I think that is us really being cheap skates, if I'm being honest. Oh, no, it is. And then you can't call other people on the question when you are being hypocritical. And I just want to say one thing before you guys take it over. Listen, to a much lesser degree, one of the things I'm worried about with this Washington Post,

and if you don't know the layoffs of 300 people, a third of their staff, is they are and have been a standard bearer in the industry, and I fear that other institutions in the same industry are going to be like, oh, well, if the Washington Post can do it, we can do it too. And then all of a sudden, it all falls apart all over the country. Yep. I think that is well said, Marshall, and there's more to discuss about this. And if we have time inside of today's show, we can get to more of it.

But here's what we do have planned. Dave Wonstead is in studio. Let's go. The board's back? Yes. Well, you know, I don't know if we have him drawing anything up, but we can ask. If it comes up in conversation, Alex went to school for it, he's ready to hold the board. And that's at 3 o'clock today.

So it'll be 5 o'clock somewhere. Probably somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. Figure that out. Fiji? Brazil time. We can translate that. Probably South Paulo, right? Brasilia, whatever's farthest east. Okay, we can do that.

Atlantic time, I believe they call it. I think you're right. I'm on the World Clock website. We'll get the styled in. Adam Hogue is going to join us at 4 o'clock, and Hoger ran across a really interesting Chicago connection to the Super Bowl. Like, it's the most Chicago connection. Is this what I think it is?

I think so. Because you know what I do. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, you nailed it. And I actually, I texted someone. I was like, hey, did you coach it? So anyway, we'll do some of that.

Nick Friedel is going to join us at 5 o'clock today. He's got thoughts about the Bulls and what it is the Bulls are doing, which is funny, because that's where we're going to start. because Speings and I were just looking to each other today going, what are they doing? So we want to work through some of that stuff and we will do so after Tanny's Open, which is next, and you should listen to it here on 104-3, the score.