Is Coby White Doing Enough as the Bulls’ Starting Point Guard?
Just before last season was shut down, Coby White finally got the start so many Bulls fans were clamoring for. This year, he’s started every game at point guard. Many question whether that’s the right position for him, but there’s no way he’s shifting over to shooting guard unless Zach LaVine gets traded, and the only alternatives up top are Tomas Satoransky and Ryan Arcidiacono. Not only do some believe White, a combo guard, is out of place, but it’s hard to believe those same people would be any happier with either of the aforementioned guys being handed the keys to the offense.
It’s true that White has been placed in an awkward situation. He never has been thought of as a pure point guard, so it’s easy to see why people are making a case for what they perceive as awkwardness for him. When you’ve trained yourself to shoot first and don’t have much experience running an offense, it can take a long time to get out of that mindset. It’s just unfortunate that this scrutiny finally had to come at the NBA level, especially in his second season.
On the outset, White doesn’t seem to be so bad. He leads the Bulls with 5.5 assists a game and is third on the team in scoring at 15.2 points a game. That’s about what you would expect from a starting point guard who likes to score but isn’t the primary scoring option. Nothing out of the ordinary here.
Look closer, though, and you’ll see some red flags. White’s 300 field-goal attempts are second on the Bulls, but his 40.0 field-goal percentage is the lowest of anyone in the rotation. He also has the worst true-shooting percentage in that group (51.9). This is nothing new as he faced criticism for shooting too often during his rookie year, but the fact that he continues to do that with not enough to show for it is concerning.
It gets worse when you dive into offensive and defensive ratings. Out of all rotational players, White has produced the fewest points per 100 possessions at 103. He also the worst defensive rating on the team (116) other than one-gamer Devon Dotson. So despite his scoring average, he’s not producing points at a very high clip, nor is he doing a good job at keeping them off the other side of the scoreboard.
All of this leads to questions about his value, and the answers to those aren’t very good, either. Despite playing every game and having the third-highest usage percentage on the Bulls (21.5), he’s tied for the lowest number of win shares (0.4) in the rotation with Satoransky, who has played in only half of the Bulls’ games. For regular players, he has the worst box plus/minus (minus 4.2). This all translates into the worst VORP on the whole team at minus 0.4, the exact same position and number he finished last season with.
So no, White has not done much to help the Bulls’ cause, and he’s definitely a contributing factor for why they’ve only been at .500 once this year. For the moment, he’s being given the benefit of the doubt as we’re not even halfway through the season. But how much bigger of a leash will Arturas Karnisovas and Billy Donovan keep him on? Their eyes have to be on him right now as they’re trying to identify who to keep and who to cut loose over the next few years.
Until White can prove that his scoring average isn’t made of empty calories, those who doubt his worth will continue to speak up, and the calls for the Bulls to get a true point guard next offseason won’t go away. Either White will successfully change his mindset for the good of his team, or he will serve as a cautionary tale for what happens to players who are forced to change what got them where they are on the fly. Regardless, the fact that we’re even having this conversation about him shows just how desperate the situation is becoming.
White deserves every opportunity to better himself in Chicago as he’s a likeable player who’s clearly giving it his all. But eventually, the results have to come. If the Bulls wait too long for those or he gets repurposed and isn’t anymore effective, the decision to move on will have to come. Though it won’t be an easy decision, how else are the Bulls going to emerge from the nether regions of the NBA?
