Chicago Bulls: Would Coby White be seventh pick if draft was re-done?

A re-done 2019 NBA Draft could see the Chicago Bulls re-position their seventh overall pick instead of selecting point guard Coby White.

With the seventh overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls picked up the former North Carolina Tar Heels 6-foot-5 and 185 pound point guard Coby White. That was the third consecutive year where the Bulls picked seventh overall in the NBA Draft Lottery. It seemed like a very wise pick at the time considering that the Bulls got pretty unlucky in the draft lottery. They had the fourth best odds to win the Zion Williamson sweepstakes and get the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft.

However, the Bulls did fill a positional need that the front office mentioned it would prioritize at the outset of the offseason and land what looked to be one of the best players left on the board. When you can fill a positional need and possibly take the best player available on the board at the same time, that’s about all you can ask in the NBA Draft.

White did get off to a rather poor start to his rookie season, though. He rose to the occasion in spurts, but his efficiency on both ends of the floor was anything but consistent so far during his brief NBA career.

So far this season, White is averaging 12.5 points per game, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.4 assists, while shooting 38.8 percent from the field and 35.9 percent from beyond the arc. That amounts to a player efficiency rating of 11.6 and 0.8 win shares. Considering the fact that White sits top five on the Bulls in total minutes of playing time and he doesn’t have a complete win share yet shows just how up and down he’s been as a rookie.

But he is playing much better of late. White had an outburst of at least 33 points each way in three consecutive games last weekend. He posted a career-high on two separate occasions. His best game came in his 35-point outburst that still resulted in a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Feb. 25 by a slim margin of 124-122 at home at the United Center.

Even in the Bulls most recent devastating loss at the hands of the lowly New York Knicks on Feb. 29 on the road at Madison Square Garden, White had a pretty efficient night with 22 points off the bench. He shot 7-of-17 from the field and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc in that loss to the Knicks.

But we still have to consider the complete body of work over the course of his rookie season when evaluating the impact he’s truly made. White definitely helped the Bulls win some games when he went nuclear off the bench.

Fellow rookie and former Arkansas Razorbacks big man Daniel Gafford is actually registering a more efficient rookie campaign than White. So far this season, Gafford actually has a player efficiency rating of 16.9, 1.6 win shares, and a whopping .149 win shares per 48 minutes. Gafford also ranks third among rookies in defensive PIPM, according to the Basketball Index.

Meanwhile, White doesn’t have any individual category that makes up the player impact plus/minus rating in the positive. Even his offensive PIPM sits below -1.0. He’s got to have a more efficient run all-around come his sophomore campaign in the NBA.

Maybe this recent hot stretch from White will continue throughout the rest of his rookie season. He definitely wouldn’t be the first rookie point guard that is known as a volume scorer that would take a while to get a more efficient stat line going. Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young and Indiana Pacers point guard Aaron Holiday are just two good examples of solid scorers from the 2018 rookie class that got going in the right direction this year.

Granted Young is on an entirely different level than either White or Holiday at the moment. He nabbed his first career All-Star selection this year.

So, the real question in this 20/20 hindsight piece remains how the decision of John Paxson and Gar Forman to pick White seventh overall in the 2019 NBA Draft looks now?

GarPax made a handful of decisions that seemed good at the time to upgrade the roster last summer. But the additions of combo guard Tomas Satoransky, forward Thaddeus Young, and center Luke Kornet, don’t look great at the moment.

The Bulls still filled a positional and rotational need by adding White to the mix in last year’s draft. They need a volume scorer off the bench that can spark the second unit. White also helps take some of the scoring pressure off the shoulders of rising star shooting guard Zach LaVine.

If White can continue to make strides as a facilitator, then he’ll help open up the offensive games of key franchise cornerstones like power forward Lauri Markkanen and center Wendell Carter Jr.

GarPax picking someone else besides White would entail a limited list of mostly guards and wings. Keep in mind that the Bulls needed a point guard of the future to help this rebuild then entering its third year. About the only places the Bulls could look in this regard is shooting guard Kevin Porter Jr., combo guard Tyler Herro, or maybe small forward Sekou Doumbouya (if they wanted to take on a more long-term project).

The Bulls still made a good pick with White. His long-term potential remains and this cannot be a point that the Bulls give up on anytime soon.