On the night of Nov. 14, second-year head coach Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls will round out the weekend with an important matchup against head coach Tyronn Lue and the Los Angeles Clippers. But the Bulls are still set to be without one of the more important pieces of the bench heading out of the weekend in third-year point guard Coby White.
White is still working his way back from a shoulder injury he had a procedure on during the offseason. It does look like White is set to make his debut for the Bulls soon, though. Donovan reportedly mentioned on Nov. 14, ahead of his team’s meeting with the Clippers on the road, that White “is cleared to make his season debut vs. the Lakers”.
The Bulls are set to take on the Los Angeles Lakers in the back-end of back-to-back games on Nov. 15. Donovan and the Bulls will take on the Clippers on the road on Nov. 14, and then battle the Lakers on the road on Nov. 15.
Chicago Bulls will see Coby White make his season debut vs. Lakers on Nov. 15
Billy Donovan said Coby White is cleared to make his season debut vs. the Lakers.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) November 15, 2021
Given some of the Bulls’ struggles of late creating scoring off the bench, especially apparent in the road loss on Nov. 12 to the Golden State Warriors, it could be very impactful to have White back in the lineup. His volume-scoring ability should be very situationally helpful for Donovan and the Bulls this season.
When the Bulls need an offensive boost in the second unit, having someone like White to turn to off the bench can be vital. There are going to be nights where the star duo of shooting guard/forward DeMar DeRozan and shooting guard Zach LaVine are having off games. Look at essentially the last three quarters in the loss to the Warriors and the last of the two losses last week to the Philadelphia 76ers.
All in all, getting White back can make a positive impact right away for the Bulls This is not something that will take the team to new heights in terms of postseason contenders, but White can at least get the bench cooking when others aren’t.
Last season, White averaged 15.1 points per game, 4.1 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.2 blocks. And he shot around 42 percent from the field, 36 percent from beyond the arc, and 90 percent from the free-throw line.