Thoughts on Coby?

[NecessaryEvil]

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Love him

[Chi town]

All the weak sisters worried about the defense with Giddey and White playing together, do you see how much switching every NBA team does? Or how often somebody besides the guards bring the ball up the floor and then there's a high screen set and players end up on somebody else? Are you concerned about hos the defenses are going to guard Coby and Josh, maybe they're worrined.

Agreed. I think our D improves dramatically to average 15ish by replacing Vuc with a defensive C.

Adding Tre Okoro and healthy Ayo back we could be a top 8 defensive team with a strong defensive C.

[drosestruts]

Coby White just had his best season as a pro, averaging 20 ppg with a 60% TS% - both career highs

Coby is a guy who makes incremental improvements every year.

I understand players making a big jump all at once is more exciting

Coby moving his consistency closer to his ceiling will be the next step in his development.

His highs are very high (44 points vs Orlando) and his lows can be low (play-in game va Miami - ineffecienct and couldn't stop Herro).


As a believer in our team's post all-star break performance, trading Coby for picks and taking a step back in hopes of taking a step forward could be tough to swallow. We have a 25 year old player who plays hard, likes playing here, and gets better every summer (and isn't done getting better).

The likelihood of future picks being betterr than Coby is low.

[Chi town]

What would you need in order to trade Coby?

How much of a drop off would you anticipate if Ayo or Huerter replaced his mins?

I'm in the camp of either 2 middling 1sts or 1 potentially good 1st. To me, it comes down to needing a legit #1 scorer who is less of a defensive liability coupled with not signing Coby to a deal that will make him hard to unload.

Agree. Also if someone would kindly trade us a very athletic, shot blocking center who covers large areas of the half court, that would be a fine and dandy alternative.

I don’t want to trade Coby for a defensive C. I want to trade what assets we have to get that defensive C to pair with Coby.

I think an efficient high volume 3 pt shooter and scorer is tougher to find than a defensive C.

I know AK isn’t creative enough to move Ayo and the POR 1st for a player like that. But that’s exactly what he should do.

Now I’d be game for trading Coby for a C and a replacement SG… Beringer and Shannon. No way Wolves do that though.

[Chi town]

Coby White just had his best season as a pro, averaging 20 ppg with a 60% TS% - both career highs

Coby is a guy who makes incremental improvements every year.

I understand players making a big jump all at once is more exciting

Coby moving his consistency closer to his ceiling will be the next step in his development.

His highs are very high (44 points vs Orlando) and his lows can be low (play-in game va Miami - ineffecienct and couldn't stop Herro).


As a believer in our team's post all-star break performance, trading Coby for picks and taking a step back in hopes of taking a step forward could be tough to swallow. We have a 25 year old player who plays hard, likes playing here, and gets better every summer (and isn't done getting better).

The likelihood of future picks being betterr than Coby is low.

Yep. The best pick for Coby would be the Bulls struggling into a better 1st for themselves. Probably 7-10 instead of 11-14.

This next draft is loaded top 8 though. Two stud C’s and five #1 options.

[Am2626]

Coby White just had his best season as a pro, averaging 20 ppg with a 60% TS% - both career highs

Coby is a guy who makes incremental improvements every year.

I understand players making a big jump all at once is more exciting

Coby moving his consistency closer to his ceiling will be the next step in his development.

His highs are very high (44 points vs Orlando) and his lows can be low (play-in game va Miami - ineffecienct and couldn't stop Herro).

As a believer in our team's post all-star break performance, trading Coby for picks and taking a step back in hopes of taking a step forward could be tough to swallow. We have a 25 year old player who plays hard, likes playing here, and gets better every summer (and isn't done getting better).

The likelihood of future picks being betterr than Coby is low.

The biggest issue here is Coby White is going to demand an outrageous contract next year and the Bulls will have to overpay to keep him. While he is a good player and a borderline All Star Caliber player he will end up being paid like a Franchise Player which he is not. These are the types of moves that will keep the Bulls in mediocrity forever.

If Coby White does take another step and gets better next year I may change my thinking but he needs to show it this year.

[Red Larrivee]

What stands out the most to me is that Coby didn't even shoot the 3 that well post-ASB. He was only at 37%. So, it wasn't like his game stayed the same and he was just making shots. He was getting to the free throw line a lot more. He almost hit 7 FTA/per in March. He's never had a stretch like that before. He finished at 5.7 FTA/per post-ASB. The same thing is true with Giddey (5.8 FTA).

If Coby is largely the same player he was from that stretch, then the Bulls are going to have a really difficult choice. To me, he would be close to a Tyrese Maxey type if he maintains that production.

I know building with Coby and Giddey isn't an exciting idea to most, but it would be pretty bold to just let a player like that walk.

[Red Larrivee]

The biggest issue here is Coby White is going to demand an outrageous contract next year and the Bulls will have to overpay to keep him. While he is a good player and a borderline All Star Caliber player he will end up being paid like a Franchise Player which he is not. These are the types of moves that will keep the Bulls in mediocrity forever.

If Coby White does take another step and gets better next year I may change my thinking but he needs to show it this year.

I'll spoil next summer for you: Coby is not going to get franchise player money.

[Tetlak]

What stands out the most to me is that Coby didn't even shoot the 3 that well post-ASB. He was only at 37%. So, it wasn't like his game stayed the same and he was just making shots. He was getting to the free throw line a lot more. He almost hit 7 FTA/per in March. He's never had a stretch like that before. He finished at 5.7 FTA/per post-ASB. The same thing is true with Giddey (5.8 FTA).

If Coby is largely the same player he was from that stretch, then the Bulls are going to have a really difficult choice. To me, he would be close to a Tyrese Maxey type if he maintains that production.

I know building with Coby and Giddey isn't an exciting idea to most, but it would be pretty bold to just let a player like that walk.

I know what you actually mean (he shot the way he usually does), but let's take a moment to acknowledge that 37% on his volume and shot difficulty is actually really good. We got spoiled by Zach being absolutely elite from behind the arc.

[Am2626]

The biggest issue here is Coby White is going to demand an outrageous contract next year and the Bulls will have to overpay to keep him. While he is a good player and a borderline All Star Caliber player he will end up being paid like a Franchise Player which he is not. These are the types of moves that will keep the Bulls in mediocrity forever.

If Coby White does take another step and gets better next year I may change my thinking but he needs to show it this year.

I'll spoil next summer for you: Coby is not going to get franchise player money.

My point is he is going to be overpaid next year. If it is with the Bulls it is going to put a ceiling on how good this team is going to eventually be. If it is with someone else the Bulls will lose him for nothing. He will also take the Bulls out of a top 8 pick in next years draft which is where the Bulls actually have a chance at finding a Franchise Level Talent on a rookie contract.

[Tetlak]

The biggest issue here is Coby White is going to demand an outrageous contract next year and the Bulls will have to overpay to keep him. While he is a good player and a borderline All Star Caliber player he will end up being paid like a Franchise Player which he is not. These are the types of moves that will keep the Bulls in mediocrity forever.

If Coby White does take another step and gets better next year I may change my thinking but he needs to show it this year.

I'll spoil next summer for you: Coby is not going to get franchise player money.

My point is he is going to be overpaid next year. If it is with the Bulls it is going to put a ceiling on how good this team is going to eventually be. If it is with someone else the Bulls will lose him for nothing. He will also take the Bulls out of a top 8 pick in next years draft which is where the Bulls actually have a chance at finding a Franchise Level Talent on a rookie contract.

I highly doubt he receives more than 27 a year, and that's only if he takes a jump. I expect closer to 21-25.

[Am2626]

I'll spoil next summer for you: Coby is not going to get franchise player money.

My point is he is going to be overpaid next year. If it is with the Bulls it is going to put a ceiling on how good this team is going to eventually be. If it is with someone else the Bulls will lose him for nothing. He will also take the Bulls out of a top 8 pick in next years draft which is where the Bulls actually have a chance at finding a Franchise Level Talent on a rookie contract.

I highly doubt he receives more than 27 a year, and that's only if he takes a jump. I expect closer to 21-25.

If Jalen Suggs can get 30M a year and if more teams had cap space Kuminga and Giddey would get the same why wouldn’t Coby White command that amount in the open market next year?

[Red Larrivee]

My point is he is going to be overpaid next year. If it is with the Bulls it is going to put a ceiling on how good this team is going to eventually be. If it is with someone else the Bulls will lose him for nothing. He will also take the Bulls out of a top 8 pick in next years draft which is where the Bulls actually have a chance at finding a Franchise Level Talent on a rookie contract.

I highly doubt he receives more than 27 a year, and that's only if he takes a jump. I expect closer to 21-25.

If Jalen Suggs can get 30M a year and if more teams had cap space Kuminga and Giddey would get the same why wouldn’t Coby White command that amount in the open market next year?

20-30M isn't franchise player money though. That's the point.

[Red8911]

I'll spoil next summer for you: Coby is not going to get franchise player money.

My point is he is going to be overpaid next year. If it is with the Bulls it is going to put a ceiling on how good this team is going to eventually be. If it is with someone else the Bulls will lose him for nothing. He will also take the Bulls out of a top 8 pick in next years draft which is where the Bulls actually have a chance at finding a Franchise Level Talent on a rookie contract.

I highly doubt he receives more than 27 a year, and that's only if he takes a jump. I expect closer to 21-25.

I’m sure Coby and his agents are watching the Giddey negotiations closely and they will ask for something similar or more.

If he has a good season(like last year) he will get that money too, if not by the bulls then from someone else. If the Bulls aren’t prepared to pay for him they could easily lose him next offseason.

[drosestruts]

Top 2025 Free Agents 2024 AAV to 2025 AAV

Kyrie Irving: 40 -> 40

Myles Turner: 20 -> 27

FVV: 43 -> 25

Duncan Robinson: 19 -> 16

NAW: 4 -> 15

Schroder: 13 -> 14.5

LeVert: 16 -> 14.5

Davion Mitchell: 6 -> 12


I know some players like Devin Booker and Jalen Williams are signing some huge contracts - but outside of those guys I don't see this scenario where players are getting handed giant contracts that warrants all this fear over the Coby contract

[drosestruts]

Spotrac projects two teams to have significant cap space next offseason - Brooklyn and Memphis

[DuckIII]

The likelihood of future picks being betterr than Coby is low.

Sometimes that's a good way to look at it. But the Coby White situation is a lot more complicated than that.

[League Circles]

It actually absolutely blows my mind that people would casually trade Coby White for basically a prayer or two.

He's NOT a great player and probably never will be. But he's certainly a good player with several important strengths and IMO no glaring weaknesses. That's huge. In any given draft, IMO you need to draft top 3 to have a player who projects to be better than Coby White now projects to be (which is only a bit better than he was this past year).

Because I believe you need to get a top 3 pick to project as better than Coby, and because picks projected as top 3 are technically impossible to get, and because draft picks years into the future (from virtually any team) or outside the top 10 have extremely low value to me, the only type of plausible Coby trade that would make sense to me is a trade that includes him in a package for a better player. And that's true of most NBA players and is unlikely.

[dougthonus]

Spotrac projects two teams to have significant cap space next offseason - Brooklyn and Memphis

I don't see a good cap projection list on spotrac.

Like are you looking at this:
https://www.spotrac.com/nba/cap/yearly

It shows the Bulls as 232M in used cap, but we will only have 61M in active cap usage, which means we'll be 110M or so under the cap. Poking around, I don't see a meaningful practical list of cap room on there.

[drosestruts]

The likelihood of future picks being betterr than Coby is low.

Sometimes that's a good way to look at it. But the Coby White situation is a lot more complicated than that.

What are you concerns with Coby?

Top ones I see mentioned are:

1. Size of his next contract and how it impacts our ability to continue adding talent

2. That he's peaked and isn't likely to get any better or impact winning in any greater way

3. His long-term fit with Giddey

open to other concerns people have.

I think fears over the next contract size might be overblown. Things change fast (and can change again), but big contracts given out 1-2 years ago, seem to have been reeled back some this summer as front offices acclimate to the new CBA.

I like that White has improved annually. His improvements have kind of been generic, as his role was never well definsed year to year in recent times.

Moving forward I think there's an opportunity for his role to be more solidified and known going into a season. Can we see some of those incremental improvements be made to areas that improve his fit with the roster?