A lot could happen for the Chicago Bulls and rookie point guard Coby White that improves his image compared to how he looked in Summer League.
Las Vegas NBA Summer League just concluded for the Chicago Bulls after falling short to the Orlando Magic on July 13 in a consolation game. Facing the Magic ended a five game run for the Bulls in Vegas that saw them round up with a final record of 2-3. The two wins for the Bulls in Summer League came over the Los Angeles Lakers and the Charlotte Hornets.
While I won’t take too much away from how Summer League will impact the Bulls for this coming season, there are similarities to draw between their top 10 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft and previous standout point guards. The Bulls opted to pick the former North Carolina Tar Heels point guard and freshman sensation Coby White with the seventh overall pick in this year’s draft.
In general, White didn’t have the best five games in Summer League. He showed a lot of deficiencies for translating his game on both ends of the floor. But part of that is to be expected. There were shooting concerns that present legitimate issues if he doesn’t work them out during his rookie season.
However, there is one name that comes to mind when comparing White to other young point guards that struggled in Summer League in the past two years. The Atlanta Hawks rising star second-year point guard Trae Young was an early lottery pick in the 2018 NBA Draft coming out of the Oklahoma Sooners basketball program. The similarities between Young and White could actually be pretty astounding.
Young wound up averaging an outstanding 19.1 points per game and 8.1 assists while registering a 17.0 player efficiency rating during his rookie season. Considering he got off to a poor start at the outset of the 2018-19 regular season with the Hawks, those numbers are remarkable.
But Young did not get off to a good start with the Hawks. In Summer League in Vegas and Salt Lake City, UT, last year Young averaged 3.71 turnovers per game and shot just 27.3 percent from beyond the arc. He also barely shot over 30 percent from the field in general. Those numbers didn’t even wind up translating to a poor rookie campaign for Young the entire way.
In comparison to White, who shot just 10 percent from three-point range and average well over three turnovers per game, these could be important experiences from Young to learn from. Both White and Young are capable offensive threats with star potential in the NBA. Shooting also has to continue to improve for both. Young shot just 32.9 percent from three-point range last season.
However, past trends could indicate future success for White, and this is where I’m getting with this point. Summer League is a time for White to learn and now get down on himself for the lapses he had in Vegas.
Chicago Bulls head coach Jim Boylen does have a long way to go with White, but that is also to be expected. The reigning No. 7 overall pick has a raw skill set that needs to be rounded out on both ends of the floor. But White did show a lot of promise with the effort he gave on the defensive end of the floor during Summer League while averaging more than four rebounds per game during those five games. He could be very special for the Bulls.