ZOMG wrote:PhilLeotardo wrote:Coby White has the potential to be an absolute star/franchise cornerstone in this league. He had to be a big big reason Donovan signed on. He has the potential to be one if not THE best scoring guards in basketball. He’s a considerably better prospect than Markkanen simply due to the fact that he can create for himself on a whim. Which isn’t really saying much, because Cobi is already one of the fastest people in the league, and Lauri is a slow footed PF, but he’s more of a major piece going forward than Markkanen is imo
I hope the best for Markkanen, but I’m just not sure the Bulls is where he belongs. Dizzyingly high pressure environment, I don’t think he’ll thrive there long term. And regarding his game, I like some things about it, but he is just so unbelievably slow footed. It’s cringe to watch. I don’t ever see him being consistently competent on defense. I actually think he’s a prime candidate to wind up back in Europe eventually, if he doesn’t get traded to a team like Phoenix, where the pressure is immensely lower & the environment is more chill & less intense. We’ll see though, I’d love to be proven wrong
For all we know though, AKEVS/Donovan aren’t high on ANY of these guys, and the only people left on the roster in a year will be Cobi/Wendell/Gafford. No one really has any idea. The really unfortunate part, is that so much crucial developmental time has been squandered over the past 3/4 years. That tank job that YouKnowWho spearheaded was just about the sloppiest, most misguided tank job that the league has ever seen. Those two had NO idea what they were doing, two of the biggest morons that have ever worked in an NBA front office
Wow. That's... quite a take. Let's dissect some of this.
Coby fans keep repeating that "he can create for himself". What does that really mean? In Coby's case, it usually meant stopping the ball, dancing at the perimeter, faking a drive and hoisting up a difficult step-back with a hand in his face. Now, this may be news to some... but thats not "creating". It's just forcing a bad shot while stagnating the offense. Sure, Coby made some of these - because he took an ABSOLUTE S**TLOAD of them. Putting up shots is not a rare skill in the NBA. But you almost never see a bad rookie get such a bright green light.
Meanwhile, Coby cant "create" anything ending with a drive because he can't finish at the basket with his below average vertical and short arms. That makes him extremely one-dimensional. Everyone knows he wants the long step-back, and they let him have it because it's such a bad shot - particuarly as a two. In this respect, Coby is extremely similar to Zach - neither of them realizes that they're playing right into the hands of the defense by taking the shots the other team wants them to take. They're a couple of jump shooters who love to hold the ball but don't put pressure on the defense.
I think the truth is somewhere in between what you said and the poster above. Coby is not an elite athlete and does struggle breaking down the defense at times which results in him taking tough fade aways with a hand in his face. Towards the end of the year he went on a hot streak and was making really high difficulty shots. I would NOT expect that to continue moving forward as the "norm" for him.
However, he is underrated with his craftiness, hesitations and dribbling which will allow him to create separation. The form on his jump shot is almost textbook as well, I think there is a moderate to high probability he becomes an elite shooter eventually in the league which will allow him to score a ton with good efficiency in the future. Another thing is he is VERY good going down hill on the fast break, he is very fast once he puts the ball on the floor. Add to that average to above average defense and underrated passing (he also makes very quick decisions dishing the ball on fast breaks to teammates leading to easy layups and or lobs) and i'd be confident saying Coby will a net positive player and likely a borderline all star if everything comes together for him. I wouldn't say "cornerstone franchise player", though. A lot of people compared him to Ben Gordon coming into the NBA, and actually saying that was his ceiling. I actually think Gordon is closer to his floor rather than his ceiling.
