Coby White
Freshman, North Carolina
Coby White was billed as a 6'5" combo guard with a great shot and a knack for scoring. He showed that and more his freshman season at North Carolina, as Roy Williams trusted him to run point for one of the best offense in the nation. He has the instincts to at improvise in transition and make something out of nothing. He consistently split double-teams or attacked slower hedges, and was in the 88th percentile on passing out of double-teams on the PnR.
Coby is great at changing speed and direction, and excels at creating space off the dribble. That seriously raises his offensive ceiling, as these are two of the most important traits for NBA guards. Despite a slightly low release, he shot 80.0 FT% and 35.2 3PT% on 9.3 3PA/40. Plays like the one below are what can potentially separate average guards who can shoot well to good guards who can create their own shot in a phone booth.
Despite being very quick with the ball in his hands, White’s handle is actually pretty loose, partially because of his short arms (his wingspan equals his height), leading to 3.8 TOV/40. Combine this with his poor shooting off the dribble (27th percentile, and unwillingness to attack the rim (it’s really hard for an NBA guard to be an efficient scorer when less than 22% of their FGA’s are coming at the rim), and it’s questionable if White can start as an NBA point guard.
But I’m optimistic for two reasons. First, he had a 26.8 USG% as an 18 year old in North Carolina’s super fast paced system, so turnovers are expected and I think his decision making will improve as he ages. (He was a much better decision maker in the second half of the season). Secondly, he has shown enough to convince me he can be an off-ball 2-guard in the NBA. He shot a 71.6 eFG% on catch-and-shoot attempts, a truly elite rate, and has the size (6'5") to guard larger guards if he puts weight on.
We get these type of tweener combo guards every year. Sometimes they become Jamaal Murray, and sometimes they become Malik Monk (who I still have stock in). I’m buying in on Coby White, because I trust his shot creation to giving him minutes as a spark plug off the bench early in his career, and his bball IQ to improve to develop him into a legitimate point guard.
