Somehow, the Chicago Bulls remain one of the most confounding franchises in the NBA in terms of roster construction.
The last time the team won a playoff series was in 2014-15, when it was led by head coach Tom Thibodeau along with Jimmy Butler, Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah.
In the summer of 2017, Chicago sent Butler to Minnesota for Zach LaVine. In 2021, the Bulls acquired DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic.
The following season saw the team acquire Lonzo Ball, and that quartet led Chicago to the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference despite Ball's knee injury in January of 2022.
The Bulls lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round and things have spiraled since.
Overlooked in the confusion and darkness, however, has been the emergence of a player who could become a core piece of Chicago's future - whenever that day actually comes.
Coby White should be considered a building block for the Bulls
Coby White was a member of the 2019-20 NBA All-Rookie Team and finished fifth in Rookie of the Year voting after Chicago took him with the seventh pick in the 2019 draft.
The North Carolina standout averaged 13.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists in his debut NBA campaign but was wildly inefficient.
His numbers went up across the board the following year when he started 54 games, but then his role diminished the following season when Chicago made its playoff run.
After another down year, White was forced into a bigger role and broke out in 2023-24 as Ball missed another full season and LaVine only played 25 games.
The 6-foot-5 combo guard was the runner-up for Most Improved Player after averaging career highs in scoring (19.1 ppg), rebounds (4.5) and assists (5.1).
He also averaged a career-best 44.7 percent shooting from the field despite taking a career-high 15.3 shots per game. He shot 37.6 percent from three on 7.0 attempts a night.
Among all guards age 25 or younger who played at least 65 games last season, White ranked ninth in scoring (tied with Oklahoma City Thunder star Jalen Williams). He was also seventh in assists and eighth in rebounds.
Williams is considered one of the rising stars in the league; White matched his scoring average, grabbed more rebounds and dished out more assists on a nightly basis.
White should have an even better 2024-25 season
The 24-year-old's development has been up and down, but that's arguably more a product of fluctuating roles than his skill level. When he's had the ball in his hands, he's proven to be one of the better young guards in the NBA.
Chicago added another young backcourt piece this offseason in point guard Josh Giddey. Will that mean a dip in White's usage rate (again), or could Giddey help unlock more of his scoring ability?
How that dynamic plays out will be one of the more interesting and important subplots of the Bulls' season.
But based on last year's production and Chicago's (hopefully) willingness to concentrate on player development, White could have a second consecutive breakout campaign and become recognized around the league as one of the franchise's core building blocks.