Coby White’s All-Rookie Team Selection Bodes Well for Bulls’ Future
As the Bulls’ disastrous 2019–20 season wore on, Coby White’s status as a bench player became a hotter topic. People had had enough of Tomas Satoransky as the starting point guard and wanted the rookie out of North Carolina to take his place. It turns out White didn’t need regular starts to garner recognition. That’s because he has been named to the All-Rookie Second Team.
Joining White on the Second Team were Tyler Herro of the Miami Heat, Terence Davis of the Toronto Raptors, P.J. Washington of the Charlotte Hornets and Rui Hachimura of the Washington Wizards. NBA Rookie of the Year Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies was a unanimous selection to the First Team. Morant was joined on the First Team by teammate Brandon Clarke. Rounding out the First Team were Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans, Kendrick Nunn of the Heat and Eric Paschall of the Golden State Warriors.
The difference between White and all of those guys is that he had to wait longer than he should have to get a start. That it hadn’t happened by the beginning of March was only one entry in a long list of grievances Bulls Nation had against Jim Boylen. Finally, Boylen relented and made White a starter for the Bulls’ March 10 game against Cleveland. More starts surely would have come, but COVID-19 shut the NBA down right after that, and the Bulls haven’t played since.
Despite the crummy situation White found himself in, he did well with the opportunities he had. His 13.2 points a game ranked only behind Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen on the team. In field-goal attempts between 16 feet and the 3-point line, he shot 10.7 percent, good for second on the team behind Otto Porter. Ironically, he and Satoransky were the only two Bulls to play in every game of this pandemic-shortened season.
In February, White played well enough to garner Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month honors. During that month, he averaged 20.1 points, four rebounds and 4.1 assists a game. In three of the games between Feb. 22 and Feb. 25, he averaged 33.7 points, shooting 57.4 percent from the floor, 58.1 percent from behind the 3-point line and made all but one of his 14 free throws. Regrettably, the Bulls wasted his effort by dropping two of those three games.
Whoever the Bulls bring in as their next head coach needs to recognize White for what he is because his career is off to a nice start. While it’s clear he can score, he needs the right coaching staff to develop him into a more complete basketball player. If all he does is shoot at will, he’s not going to last long in the NBA. Fortunately, the 20-year-old has youth and time on his side, so let’s not write him off just yet.
At the very least, the new regime has a promising young asset it can build the team around, provided White can keep himself in the conversation. Given what he’s already shown on offense at least, there’s little reason to think he won’t. He should be motivated by the start he earned, especially given what that could have meant in a full NBA season, and there’s no question he’ll work hard enough to make that his permanent role on the team. Whenever the Bulls take the court again, you better believe he’ll held in the same regard as LaVine and Markkanen, at least on one side of the ball.
