Coby White just turned 20 in February. But yeah, he’s one of the most electrifying young players in the NBA.
With the steam head, it is confused. With an inch of space – away from the dribble or the socket – it’s a bucket. At 6 feet-4, he is large at the point guard point, and has shown a rapid improvement in skill as a ball manager, director and finisher through contact with the basket during his beginner season.
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All of the above was shown in a tangible and spectacular way in a torrid stretch of 10 games that he tore after the All-Star break. During that time, white scored an average of 24.7 points (second among rookies only at Sion Williamson) and 4.3 assists per game with 46.8-40.7-89.5 division shots in 33.7 minutes per night and with a usage rate of 28.1% (first among the towers). It became the first beginner’s reserve in the history of the league to record 33 consecutive points. The Bulls’ net rating plummeted from 16.2 points per 100 possessions with White off the floor, post-All-Star, with the offense, in particular, transforming from the equivalent of this year’s Clippers to the 2012 Bobcats when White sat down. He made his first start in the NBA in the last game of the Bulls before the NBA went dark.
But before hanging his number 0 on the beams of the United Center, it is obviously important to consider the complete picture. The first four months of White’s professional career were tumultuous. Entering the break, his minutes (24.3) and points (11.1) per game were pedestrian, and he ranked 261th in the NBA in real shots (47.7%) and 257th in the effective percentage of goals on the pitch (45.2%) among players with more than 200 field goal attempts for the season. After recording four 20-point outings – one of which saw him break the franchise record for 3 seconds in a quarter – in the Bulls’ first 17 games, he only scored one between November 23rd and the All-Star break. Even in its deepest conditions, it was a constant off-ball threat (36.2% on 3.4 catch-and-shoot 3s per pre-All-Star break game) and a candidate for microwave scoring on a nightly basis, but questions regarding its consistency, defense and facilitation loomed.
By shattering any beginner’s wall that he may have encountered with expanded opportunities, it resonated even more and serves as a testament to White’s discipline and maturity. Throughout the season, head coach Jim Boylen sat down personally with White for periodic film sessions to discredit the tape, sessions for which Boylen often praised White and eventually credited in part for his breakout. Talk to anyone in White’s Bulls locker room and one thing becomes clear: work.
Unfortunately, the league’s coronavirus-induced pause interrupted his tenure as an appetizer after a game, which would have been arguably the most compelling storyline for the bulls. Now, wait for an offseason to reflect: what is White’s ceiling? His true nature as a player probably lies somewhere between himself pre and post All-Star, but which one is closer? A team of bulls in desperate need to knock out Zach LaVine will pray to Zach LaVine.
Here’s what NBC Sports NBA Insider’s Tom Haberstroh said when asked what White’s ceiling was in the latest episode of the Bulls Talk Podcast:
“He got really strong, as a teenager in the NBA, I didn’t think he had the last explosion in him. I think he struggled early just to get his feet wet, I don’t think the player’s alignments or lineup alignment helped him much, but man, it was fantastic. And I think he looked a lot like De’Aaron Fox, a boy who is just explosive, a boy who is fast, with a good rhythm, plays in a system where you just want him to take the ball and let him run.
“I’m not so sure if he’s still on Russell Westbrook’s level, but I think the potential All-Star is what I would say for Coby White. When you have that kind of score in the league where you have that instinct, you have the size – and he will fill – the speed. It reminds me a lot of De’Aaron Fox, and he’s not yet an All-Star, but he’s still very young in the league. And when you talk about a nineteen year old who is capable of doing Coby White’s things, he has a very bright future. “
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Intriguing comparisons are found in Fox and Westbrook. White projects are a much more reliable external shooter than both, and with a fair margin. But even thinking about the future, Fox has a marked advantage in the defensive part, and Westbrook is both an all-round director and an explosively athletic wonder capable of being at the center of a successful offense. Although White’s ending has improved dramatically over the season (his percentage of goals in the restricted area has improved every month from November to February), both Fox and Westbrook are prolific around the basket – type, two of the top five guard finalists in the prolific league.
What all three possess is the outbreak of the game, and White’s ability to rip rebounds and trigger the break is particularly tempting, given its superlative size and quick release of the shot. It competes hard on the defensive, giving credit to the theory that can continue to gain ground in this sense over time. And as his game progresses, the natural gravity he commands due to all the above abilities could unlock new levels for his individual game and the offense of the Bulls in general.
Are all these tools packed with White’s cool mentality enough to one day guarantee All-Star consideration? Maybe it’s too early to say it declaratively. But given what we’ve seen, it’s never too early to dream.
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