Coby White scored more points as a freshman at North Carolina than Michael Jordan did.
No pressure or anything, right?
Sarcasm aside, the Bulls will settle for White to establish himself as the long-term answer at point guard after they used the No. 7 pick in Thursday's NBA draft on the speedster.
While some scouts view the 6-foot-5-inch White as more of a scorer than facilitator, White emphatically stated his main mentality at last month's draft combine in Chicago.
"I'm a point guard," White said then.
Executive vice president John Paxson has openly declared his desire to upgrade the point guard position after a disappointing, injury-filled second season in Chicago for Kris Dunn. Coincidentally, White and Dunn share an agency.
Not since the days of Derrick Rose's dominance have the Bulls solved their point guard problem. The Bulls view White as someone who can push the pace offensively while playing seamlessly alongside Zach LaVine. Wendell Carter Jr., the Bulls' selection at No. 7 last year, greeted White at the NBA draft in New York shortly after the selection.
"Put the ball in my hands," White said at last month's combine.
White is very familiar with the Bulls. He attended the Oct. 18 game in Philadelphia when LaVine scored 30 points in a loss. And White and Carter were in the same AAU program.
And what do you know? White speaks with the proper reverence when it comes to Jordan.
"Michael Jordan is the GOAT, the greatest to ever do it," White said last month. "To break his record means a lot. It's humbling and it's a blessing at the same time."
When the Bulls dropped from No. 4 to No. 7 following the May 14 draft lottery, executive vice president John Paxson talked confidently about there being more than seven players the Bulls liked on their draft board.
Had the Bulls even stayed at No. 4, they would've been in position to draft Vanderbilt point guard Darius Garland. The Pelicans acquired that pick from the Lakers and flipped it to the Hawks, who selected De'Andre Hunter.
Any dialogue with the Cavaliers for the No. 5 pick featured an asking price deemed too high. As the Tribune reported on Wednesday, the Bulls never entertained including LaVine in any package to move up.
The Bulls were intrigued by Texas center Jaxson Hayes and French forward Sekou Doumbouya but ultimately considered both players as too big of projects to undertake. They never ranked Duke wing Cam Reddish highly on their board.
The Bulls will now enter free agency with roughly $23 million of salary cap space centered on adding big-man depth, shooting and likely a lower-costing point guard like Cory Joseph.
