All Credit To Coby: Key Improvements Fuel Solid Year 4 For White
The Bulls have had a rough go of it —honestly, a bit of an understatement — when it comes to developing young talent.
A quick survey of the league and it does not take long to find several young players who have made large strides after leaving Chicago, Lauri Markkanen’s 2023 All-Star rise being the most recent example. The Bulls are hoping 2019 №7 overall pick Coby White doesn’t fall to a similar fate of hitting his stride outside of Chicago.
Of course, keeping White on the roster will largely be up to the Bulls front office–yes, we know, realistically, ownership is making this call–as he is a restricted free agent.
The Bulls guard situation post-Lonzo Ball update likely calls for keeping as many productive guards as possible around.
But the Bulls shouldn’t keep Coby White just because Ball is hurt; they should retain White because he has made great strides on both sides of the ball in Year 4, as he finally is combining an understanding of his (current) role with his natural and explosive, scoring ability. His play has been part of the Bulls’ recent resurgence.
The biggest improvement from the eye test in my opinion has been White’s improved finishing at the rim. Previously, he would be denied in the paint by any big who threw their body at him. But now, White uses his newly polished ballhandling and ability to control his body in the air to contort and make some truly impressive finishes.
Over the 2021–22 season, Coby White shot 60% on shots less than 5ft from the rim. White is shooting 64.2% this season on shots less than 5ft from the rim.
That improvement is a testament to both White’s work ethic and the Bulls coaching staff being able to extract some of White’s talent out as he solidifies an improving bench unit.
In the clip above, White splits a double-team with a nifty behind-the-back dribble and then avoids the defender at the rim with a euro-step to get the clean layup off. This impressive string of dribble moves to get to his spot is something we simply didn’t see enough of in his previous three seasons.
In March, White has averaged 10.9 points, 4.0 assists and 1.4 turnovers per game. His red-hot shooting from deep continues to perfectly compliment average-to-below average shooting from defensive stalwarts Patrick Beverley, Alex Caruso and Ayo Dosunmu, giving Billy Donovan plenty of options depending on the matchup. White is having the most efficient season of his brief career in terms of true shooting and also his best assist-to-turnover ratio.
In Year 5 and beyond, it is reasonable to expect White — if he earns more than 22.9 minutes per game, of course — to expand his game even further.
We’ve seen White become a better finisher, defender and playmaker throughout a season that has seen Chicago fighting for postseason position rather than solely focusing on developing their young talent. Only time will tell what the Bulls’ internal goals are for future seasons in terms of “competing vs. developing,” but regardless, White has shown more than enough this season to indicate that the Chicago Bulls should keep him around long-term.
