If the Bulls bring back their core group for next season, which vice president Arturas Karnisovas has indicated that he plans to do, someone on the roster will have to show significant improvement for the team to move up the ladder in the East. Free agent Coby White is an obvious candidate if he can provide a long-term answer at point guard after the loss of Lonzo Ball to injury, writes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago.
White is one of the team’s best three-point shooters and a natural fit in the fast-paced style that coach Billy Donovan likes to play. He has shown improvement in his ball-handling and decision making during his four years in the NBA, Johnson adds, and he got better on defense last season.
“He’s a lot more equipped, I’d say, today to be maybe in that role than he was a few years ago,” Donovan said after the season ended. “So I’ve got a lot of confidence in Coby and just the way he’s gotten better. And he deserves all the credit. He’s the one who put all the work in.”
There’s more from Chicago:
- Patrick Williams still has a lot of believers within the Bulls organization, but that doesn’t guarantee he’ll get a rookie scale extension this summer, Johnson said on the Bulls Talk podcast. Johnson notes that management typically takes a hard line in extension talks and suggests that the team might handle Williams the same way it did White, letting him play out his rookie contract and negotiating with him next summer as a restricted free agent.
- Jimmy Butler‘s performance in leading the Heat to the NBA Finals is proving that the Bulls’ decision to trade him in 2017 was one of the worst moves in franchise history, claims Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Of the three players Chicago got in return, only Zach LaVine is left on the roster. Cowley states that the Bulls have missed Butler’s competitive fire, as have the Timberwolves and Sixers, who also let him go without getting equal value.
- The Bulls plan to hire Peter Patton as a player development coach, Johnson tweets. The former DePaul standout has spent time as a shooting coach with the Timberwolves and Mavericks.
Chicago got 2 young future All-Stars plus Kris Dunn for Jimmy. Not a terrible return for him at all. Drafting solid but unspectacular guys like Wendell, Coby & PWill in the top10 (along with below average coaching & Lonzos injury) is moreso the reason for Chi’s recent mediocrity than the Jimmy trade
Trading Carter , what became Wagner and pick 11 for Vuc was the straw that broke the camels back ! Carter alone is better then Vuc
So what, you think they might have won 45 games with Carter instead of Vuc? Irrelevant.
They also lost pick 6 in the 2020 draft and pick 11 in this draft ! Just a terrible trade
Carter isn’t better than Vucevic. About four years ago, went to a game between the Magic and the Bulls. Carter was the Bulls starting center and Vucevic was the Magic’s center. Vucevic crushed Carter. Vucevic is a lot bigger than Carter and is much more skilled.
A lot has changed Four years ago Vuc was 28 and a lot better than he is now ! While Carter was just 20 and has been much better since he joined the magic ! I’m no magic fan but they also got franz Wagner with the bulls 6th pick that offseason have the 11th overall pick from the bulls this year! To argue that trade wasn’t terrible for the bulls is lunacy
You are correct. At the time, Carter was a young rookie trying to guard experienced centers. Carter is an undersized center. Now a days a lot of teams have smaller centers. Think that Carter is just a rotation player. Wouldn’t rate the trade as terrible. AK wanted to put together a good team quickly. You do have a reasonable good point though. The Bulls made the trade and are now only an 8th seed type of team. But in the Bulls defense, the last two seasons could have ended completely differently if Lonzo Ball hadn’t went down.
Again it wasn’t a one for one trade ! Even if Carter sucks they ended up trading two lotto picks for Vuc ! It’s just epically bad! They have no real ammunition to add to their team and they don’t want to trade demar or lavine ! They are stuck in the worst place to be in the nba ! They still owe the spurs a pick in the next couple years that’s only like top 7 protected
In hindsight, the return was solid enough. The problem is, they compounded the mistake by failing to develop and then trading Markkanen. Lavine and this version of Markannen was the best they could’ve hoped for, but alas Lauri is balling out for somebody else.
Exactly. Needed to hang on to Markkanen. Markkanen was not being paid much back then. The Bulls needed to hang on to Markkanen.
Two young future all stars ????
Markkanen was only an all star cause on injury. And never a close to that as a Bull. Bulls only ruined his value.
Giving LaVine the largest contract in Chicago sports history was a leap of faith, because the ninth-year pro has never received a vote for MVP or an All-NBA team, and he’s never won a playoff series.Mar 28, 2023
Once again your logic is flawed. Balling is about building a winner.
I think Coby White kinda stinks
He’s not trash, but he could definitely be a solid sixth-man type of player. Would like to see him in NY, PHX, or CHA next year. Maybe BKN.
CHI should trade both LaVine and DeRozan. They’re both one dimensional players, who aren’t going to improve or change from here. Keep Caruso and Williams and re-sign Vucevic. Focus on getting a veteran PG and a defensive big that can play alongside Vucevic. Among their FAs, it’s all about cost, but I’d prefer to bring back Dosunmu rather than White (neither is a starting PG right now). At least they’d have a team that can play as one, and maybe even put in a foundation from which to build a contender.
Butler was part of a terrible culture problem in Chicago…
The next 2 stops were worse and he was a large part of the problem there as well…
Now he has the discipline in Miami needed to perform…
The Bulls screwed themselves with middling draft results, a lack of player development due to cheap ownership and going after Ball…
Trading Butler was the correct move…
Bulls have to decide what basketball they want to play.Donovan plays small and fast,FO picks players for him opposite to his style.Deebo and Vooch are not Donovan’s players,they slowing game that’s why Donovan needs the whole season to figure out how to make it work.Give coach tools or change coach
DeRozan to the Knicks ……….
Let’s go already. Bulls ain’t going anywhere. No Ball means another wasted yr. Unless you get a PG. Quickley is available.
If the Nix want to make a deal for DeMar, I think the Bulls would take it as long as it includes a pg and picks.