Coby White knows that this current Bulls front office didn’t draft him.
That was the old Gar/Pax regime that made him the No. 7 overall pick out of North Carolina back in 2019.
What executive vice president of basketball Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley have done with White, however, is not only inherited him and made him feel welcome, but in White’s own words, “the loyalty they have shown me speaks volumes to me.”
Loyalty, however, will soon have a price tag attached to it.
Then we’ll see exactly how loud that volume gets.
White is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. The first time in his career. The Sun-Times reported several times in the offseason that White had informed the team he would not be taking an extension prior to the season or during the 2025-26 campaign, and why would he?
Because his last deal of three years, $36 million was so franchise friendly, and NBA rules allow a capped percentage on extensions of up to 140%, White would be doing a disservice to himself by signing an extension before the season ends.
He would handicap himself to just over $18 million in the first year of that extension. For a player that feels his floor is $30 million per year and maybe a ceiling of $40 million depending on how this season goes, loyalty only goes so far.
So yes, the two sides had an open dialogue throughout the process, and yes, both understood the bob and weave of the business of basketball.
“I’m thinking about now and how I can help my team win and become better in every aspect of the game,” White said of the contract talk that will hang over his head this season. “I’m blessed and fortunate to be in this situation, but I always say that I love being here, I love the front office, I love the relationship that I built with Coach (Billy Donovan), and me and my teammates are super close, so I’m enjoying every moment.”
Layman’s terms: White’s going all Jimmy Butler and betting on himself.
Why shouldn’t he? He’s improved most of his numbers for three straight seasons, he’s a gym rat that works on every aspect of his game that needs working on, and he’s in an offense that highlights his strengths.
The only pitfall in all of this would be an injury.
That’s why the calf strain that will limit him throughout the fall camp and preseason games isn’t serious enough to lose sleep over but does throw up a red flag.
As the likes of Kevin Durant and Tyrese Haliburton can testify, what starts as a calf strain can lead to a season-ending Achilles injury.
The hazards of betting on oneself.
“The calf is nothing to play with, so taking it slow,” White said.
The only thing that the usually quick-twitched White is taking slow these days.
That doesn’t mean that White and the Bulls can’t find a happy ending in all of this. Ideally, the home-grown talent finally gets All-Star attention this season, leaving the Bulls thrilled to invest long-term in a player that is still just 25 years old and a foundation piece for the franchise.
That’s why there is a wait-and-see agreement by both sides until a decision has to be made.
If the Bulls are underachieving by the February trade deadline, they could always look to move off White. If there’s a whiff of a playoff run in the air, expect negotiations behind closed doors to heat up.
“I’m not going to talk about the negotiations or conversations,” Karnisovas said of the negotiation process with White. “We had a lot of them. What I can tell you is that we love Coby, he’s improved the last two years. He was great last year, and hopefully he’s going to be here for a long time. When the time comes we’ll talk to him and his representation.”