Reviewing Chicago Bulls Coby White’s rookie season

Offense

Coby White showed this season that he was as advertised when coming into the draft, as Sports Illustrated draft analyst Jeremy Woo wrote about the draft 

"“White’s combination of size, athleticism and potential as a pull-up scorer oozes upside.”"

Statistically White was productive with a true shooting percentage of .506, although his offensive production is clearly a work in progress. The eye test of White shows he’s going to be a threat both inside and outside the paint. White displayed this in February as he averaged 20.1 points per game in an impressive hot streak where White won Rookie of the Month in the East.

His speed and continually improving handles made White a force towards the rim in the same vein of a De’Aaron Fox or a taller Kemba Walker. Kemba has a way of moving with the ball to just eke out enough distance for a step back and a shot, Kemba has done this efficiently in his career and mastered it in Boston and White has been taking notes.

Where I see the Fox resemblance is in the full court. White’s mix of size and speed is similar to that of Fox. As White bolts down the middle of the court to either get a soft finger roll around a defender or he is able to dish it out to Thaddeus Young or Ryan Arcidiacono, Fox does the same (but better) with a trailing Buddy Hield or a dump pass to big like Richaun Holmes.

While this is mostly evaluating his current game I would like to project his career as White is already an impressive shooter and that’s one of if not the most important thing in the NBA right now.

If we filter for shooting statistics using White’s own rookie season numbers of 5.8 3-point attempts per game, on 35.4 percent and comparing that to players in their first-through-fifth seasons, Basketball-Reference provides a list of shooters to project White’s trajectory as possibly an elite shooter.

All the players here have taken more attempts in that particular season, and with a better percentage, but with some luck they are all within range for White to match within his first five seasons;

• James Harden 2013-2014 season: 6.6 3-point attempts on 36 percent
• Kemba Walker 2015-2016 season: 6.0 3-point attempts on 37 percent
• Trae Young 2019-2020 season: 9.5 3-point attempts on 36 percent

Those are just a handful of players on that list who are all efficient shooters. If White continues to take and make 3-pointers at a similar level he did this season, he is statistically projected to be at least an All-Star level for this category. All that being said it’s providing a roadmap for Coby White to be a productive modern scorer.