After Coby White’s season-high performance against the Charlotte Hornets, I wrote the following in our Enhanced Box Score: “Can you imagine watching this current team without Coby White? Thank goodness for him!”
On the one hand, I think White deserves a night off. He’s appeared in 49 of 49 games this season and currently leads the NBA in minutes played. The guy has earned a breather, especially when we consider how superbly he’s performed with this massive workload. On the other hand, I am truly terrified of what this Chicago Bulls team will look like without him on the floor.
White has felt like the glue that has kept this team from crumbling entirely. He remains a vital part of opening up this offense and keeping the Bulls within striking distance down the stretch. While Sacramento’s offense isn’t playing at the same elite rate they were last season, there is no denying they remain one of the most terrifying offensive units in the league. They still hold a top 10 EFG% this season, and they’ve also averaged the 6th-most points per game over the last 15 contests. De’Aaron Fox is averaging 27.1 points a night to go along with Domantas Sabonis’ 20.0 points and 13.0 rebounds. If the Bulls want any chance of keeping up with this dynamic duo, it sure feels like White will have to continue to lead the way.
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
With that said, Nikola Vucevic and Andre Drummond are going to have to step up. Sabonis is one of the craftiest big men in the league. He’s shooting a career-high 61.7 percent from the field this season, and he continues to get to the free-throw line for 5.0 attempts per game (although, he is shooting his worst from the charity stripe since his rookie campaign). While he only mustered 25 combined points in his two meetings with the Bulls last season, he had 17 rebounds and 10 assists in each battle! He knows how to control the game even if his shot isn’t falling.
Zach Lowe reiterated on the most recent episode of The Lowe Post that the Zach LaVine-Detroit rumors are “real.” Of course, this comes after The Athletic reported last week that the Pistons and Bulls have had conversations about a possible trade. Those talks have yet to reach an advanced stage, however, as the Bulls appear to be requesting a ridiculous package. Lowe made sure to mention that, if a deal gets done, he believes it’ll be because the Bulls accept a far less sexy return.
“I think the Detroit, Zach LaVine noise is real, and that if the Pistons do that, Bulls fans need to be prepared for a return that will underwhelm them. But we’ll see what happens,” Lowe said.
We’ve already talked about how the Bulls will likely need to lower their expectations if they want to find a trade partner ASAP. You can read more about that here. Now, does that mean I think they’ll need to stoop as low as including an asset to get off Zach LaVine? No. That rumor is now out there, and I think it’s largely opposing front offices crossing their fingers that the Bulls give in. I wrote more about that on Friday …
Onuralp Bitim has himself a night! The Chicago Bulls two-way player posted a new career-high with 31 points in a win over the Greensboro Swarm. He scored 24 of those points in the first half on 10-13 shooting. Not too shabby!
I’m not going to pretend like I’m an expert on Bitim’s game, but he does seem like someone with an intriguing scoring arsenal. While he came over to the Bulls known as a 3-point threat, he seems to have an interesting combination of strength and fluidity that can help him around the rim.
Elias Schuster is the Lead Chicago Bulls writer at Bleacher Nation. He started with BN full-time in 2019 immediately after graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign with a degree in Journalism (yes, he started with the Jim Boylen Era). Since joining, Elias has been the driving force behind Bulls and NBA content for both the site and social accounts. You can follow him on Twitter/X @Schuster_Elias.
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