Getty UNC guard Coby White
The Chicago Bulls sat back and waited on their time to select in the 2019 NBA Draft, and it appears the player they wanted managed to fall in their lap. While a number of exceptionally talented players came off the board before the Bulls got on the clock, North Carolina Tar Heels guard Coby White was available for Chicago at No. 7.
Not surprisingly, the Bulls opted to make the move and add the talented freshman to their young roster. White, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 185 pounds, played 35 games for the Tar Heels during the 2018-19 college basketball season. Over that stretch, he posted marks of 16.1 points, 4.1 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game.
White shot 42.3 percent from the field and 35.3 from beyond the arc during his lone collegiate season. He’ll join one of the NBA’s youngest rosters, a group which comes in with an average age of under 25 years old. We’re going to take a look at the Bulls roster and starting lineup with White while evaluating how he’ll fit during the 2019-20 season and beyond.
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Chicago Bulls Roster & Starting Lineup After Drafting Coby White
*Notates expected starter
C: Wendell Carter*, Cristiano Felicio
PF: Lauri Markkanen*
SF: Otto Porter*, Chandler Hutchinson
SG: Zach LaVine*, Denzel Valentine, Antonio Blakeney
PG: Coby White*, Kris Dunn
It’s unknown if White will start immediately for the Bulls, and there’s an obvious reason to believe the team may opt to bring him along slowly. With that said, there were some rumblings about Kris Dunn potentially being a trade candidate this offseason. Regardless of whether or not it plays out that way, White will surely see plenty of action during his rookie season.
Along with the fact that the former UNC guard is incredibly talented, the Bulls are also losing three players who saw time at guard spots last season to free agency. This includes the likes of Ryan Arcidiacono, Shaquille Harrison and Wayne Selden. There will be plenty of minutes available, and the Bulls could also add a few players in free agency to bolster their roster even more in a push to return to the NBA playoffs sooner than later.
Chicago Bulls Free Agency Outlook
The Bulls not only added a top prospect in White during the NBA draft, but they also enter free agency projected to have some salary cap space to work with. As Spotrac shows, Chicago is currently listed with $23,871,378 in practical cap space. Although it’s not a drastic amount of money, the team still has an opportunity to target a few solid players to add to their roster.
Chicago could choose to go a number of routes in free agency, but adding one or two potential big men behind Carter and Markkanen would be wise. It also would make sense to look into adding another small forward, and if the front office chooses to trade Dunn, then picking up a backup point guard would be wise.
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