RealGM

Will he take another step and become an efficient mid 20s scorer that leads us to the playoffs(not the play-in) or will he remain around 20 ppg while struggle to stay above .500?

Basically will prove that he is worth the $30 million plus he will likely be seeking? I think a max is completely worth tf the table unless he becomes a superstar We can’t pull another LaVine and give crazy deal to a guy that only scores well and nothing else.

I've gone into almost every year with Coby saying if he could only add this or that, he'd be a good player. Things I remember thinking he lacked were:

Handle the ball in the paint
Score at the rim
Make 3's off the dribble
Get to the line more

Honestly, all that's left is defense. If somehow he adds that dimension, I'd have no qualms about maxing him, but that's a huge leap.

I want to see if Coby White can carry the weight of being a legit number one scoring option. The Bulls number one scoring option can't get his water shut off by Davion Mitchell.

One of my expectations is that with Van Vleet out, somebody in Houston starts picturing Coby in a Rockets jersey. Durant is 37. They need to take a shot this year and Reed Sheppard hasn't played.

I don't think Coby gets maxed like Lavine. There's a huge difference between Lavine's contract and giving Coby $30 mill in 2026. Pretty much everybody in that $30 mill range are scorers, most bad at defense. 20+ point scorers that are good at defense get max.

Coby at $30-$40 mill? No problem. He raises his defense to NBA average or close, he could be looking at $40 mill, imo. But that's not even close to the same as signing Lavine to a max two years ago. Especially if Coby's contract is flat and not tied to the cap.

Our team should be much better defensively adding Matas, Okoro and Essengue. Moving Vucevic will push that even further. We'll be worried at scoring at that point. If they can make a star trade for a player under $50 mill not including Coby, Bulls could be pretty well set up.

Sample Trade for Lauri: Vucevic, Williams, Ayo plus 2027 first, 2028 second. Maybe Jazz redirect Ayo to the Rockets for another pick.
We have Giddey, Coby, Matas, Lauri as starters. $30 mill for Coby, $46 for Lauri, $25 for Giddey, $6 mill for Matas. 4 starters for $107 mill and no big contracts on the bench in 2026. Tax will be $200, more to the apron. Plenty of money to add a very good defensive center. Value contracts like Tre Jones, Okoro, Essengue, 2026 pick, Phillips, Smith make that even more doable.

Trade for Bam: $37 mill now, trade Vucevic and Collins or Huerter or Williams plus picks. Williams would be best, takes an extra $18 mill off the cap.
If it's Williams, add $2 mill and we have Giddey, Coby, Matas, Bam for $109 mill with some talent on the bench. If it's Collins or Huerter, we're at $127 mill. Still plenty of room under the tax to add a two-way AllStar.

These are just examples, but if we make a trade for a two way starter like Bam or Matas this season and re-sign Coby, we have 4 of 5 starting spots locked up plus Essengue and 2026 pick and plenty of space to work. We add two good defenders to Matas at center/forward, our defense could be fine with Coby and Giddey. We might have one in Essengue, Okoro or 2026 pick as well. I wouldn't be mad at either lineup plus another $20-$40 player like Zion, MPJ (not defensive, I know but would take if we get Bam), De'Aaron Fox, Jrue Holiday, Nic Claxton, Aaron Gordon even Dillon Brooks.

No 1A's but a TON of tradeable pieces when a 1A trade comes along, and it could be a strong team in the meantime. One good starter trade not involving Coby and our future cold be pretty damn bright this summer.

23 4 4 on 45/37/90

Think his D improves slightly as defenders around him will be better.

Coby Post ASB last season without Zach.

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/coby-white-stats-after-the-all-star-break-this-season

Pretty much the same, he's not improving his defense any substantial way at this stage.

Slow start where the board starts to demand he's traded. Then after all-star break, he'll play exceptionally well, and the board will beg for us to re-sign him.

I think Coby is currently our best player and leader so I expect a high quality season from him again. If he can approximate his offensive performance and play average defense at the 1 position which I absolutely think he can, that's a possible all star.

I expect him to have a season similar to last season.

sco wrote:I've gone into almost every year with Coby saying if he could only add this or that, he'd be a good player. Things I remember thinking he lacked were:

Handle the ball in the paint
Score at the rim
Make 3's off the dribble
Get to the line more

Honestly, all that's left is defense. If somehow he adds that dimension, I'd have no qualms about maxing him, but that's a huge leap.

Consistency is the biggest thing for me. He has physical limitations that cap his defensive potential, but if he can become a consistent player then that would be huge.

Chi town wrote:23 4 4 on 45/37/90

Think his D improves slightly as defenders around him will be better.

Coby Post ASB last season without Zach.

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/coby-white-stats-after-the-all-star-break-this-season

90% FTs is a crazy prediction lol

GoBlue72391 wrote:

Chi town wrote:23 4 4 on 45/37/90

Think his D improves slightly as defenders around him will be better.

Coby Post ASB last season without Zach.

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/coby-white-stats-after-the-all-star-break-this-season

90% FTs is a crazy prediction lol

He’s done it twice before.

I feel like he's become a little overlooked recently. He's still only 25 and played phenomenally post All-Star Break: 24.5 PPG, 4.4 rpg, 4.3 apg, 49% FG, 37% 3PT, 91% FT. As someone else mentioned, he doesn't take giant leaps between seasons but he always seems to add a new dimension to his game. He's got a great attitude and is a hard worker. I'm still not sure what his ideal role or best case potential really is, but I think he's someone worthy of our support. I also think he's someone we could keep easily for another 7+ years.

Stratmaster wrote:I expect him to have a season similar to last season.

Pre Zach or post Zach?

Its going to be interesting to see how all our players respond out the gate. We have a gauntlet to start the season so it can look really grim really fast.

I would like to see how out top guys are performing even in a loss. That is important.

As far as Coby, I think he will do one last readjustment. This is the first time going into a season where the whole teams focus is to stop him. No Lavine, no Demar from jump. I think potentially he might have less scoring but more assists to feel things out. I think after about a month, then he will hit his stride and be a 23-25 scorer.

Chi town wrote:

GoBlue72391 wrote:

Chi town wrote:23 4 4 on 45/37/90

Think his D improves slightly as defenders around him will be better.

Coby Post ASB last season without Zach.

https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/coby-white-stats-after-the-all-star-break-this-season

90% FTs is a crazy prediction lol

He’s done it twice before.

Somehow I didn't realize that.

I'd like to see him come close to duplicating what he did the second half of the season. I don't want him to get caught up in doing more. The same applies to Giddey. They carried the team while Ayo, Ball, Jones, Vucevic and even Williams missed some games but they've got to take a step back to do much of what they did but allow Jones, Huerter, Matas do more otherwise we fall back into the Lavine/DeRozan formula of taking over while the others just watch and we lose a lot of games.

Let's see Giddey get a lighter scoring triple double and Coby score 24ppg and get more assists moving the ball in the offense

If you were to compare Coby to Zach as scorers:

The good:
Coby is a better decision maker and doesn't force the action which limits his downside in this role. He generally makes pretty smart plays and mostly takes good shots.

The bad:
Coby can't take on double teams and generate high quality shots which limits his upside in this role. He's simply doesn't have the size/athleticism to dominate physically, and while he's certainly high skilled, he's not at that "other level" skill wise that would compensate for an average physical package.

I'd expect Coby will continue to round out his game with iterative improvements, but I don't think we're going to see something significantly better than what we see today.

dougthonus wrote:If you were to compare Coby to Zach as scorers:

The good:
Coby is a better decision maker and doesn't force the action which limits his downside in this role. He generally makes pretty smart plays and mostly takes good shots.

The bad:
Coby can't take on double teams and generate high quality shots which limits his upside in this role. He's simply doesn't have the size/athleticism to dominate physically, and while he's certainly high skilled, he's not at that "other level" skill wise that would compensate for an average physical package.

I'd expect Coby will continue to round out his game with iterative improvements, but I don't think we're going to see something significantly better than what we see today.

I think that's fair...and that's how I make a distinction between a true #1 option and a #2 option. The problem is that many, if not most, true #1 options aren't above average defenders, so having Coby in a #2 role with below average defense, makes it hard to keep him while hoping to get a #1 option to get better. The only way it works, is if somehow Matas massively levels up (not likely but not impossible).