Does Coby White have a future with the Chicago Bulls?

White will know where his future lies in the next few days.

While most of the trade chatter around the Chicago Bulls has involved All-Stars Zach LaVine and upcoming unrestricted free agent Nikola Vucevic, another name mentioned in trade rumors is Coby White. Now in his fourth season after getting selected seventh overall in the 2019 NBA Draft, White's game has improved significantly since his rookie campaign, as he has become a more well-rounded player.

White's contract situation, though, is trickier, as he will become a restricted free agent this offseason. This leaves the Bulls in a pickle: should they ride White's improved play and try to re-sign him this summer? Or do they decide to cut White loose and get something in return for him before he is able to walk away?

Much-improved player

White's numbers do not reflect the improvements that he's made to his game. In fact, his numbers are all subpar, dragged down by the 21 minutes of action he sees per game, a far cry from the 27 he's averaged for his brief career. However, White believes he's a much-improved player now than he was when he entered the Draft.

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"I feel like I'm making a jump," White said. "If you're a numbers guy and look at the numbers, it might not show. But ballhandling, decision-making and on the defensive side, offensively, I think I've made a jump. The minutes might not be there every night. But when I do get them I just feel like I've got to take advantage of them and show them what I've been working on."

Tighter ballhandling

Heading to the new season, White knew what he had to improve to become a more dangerous pro player—ballhandling. And so, he went to work, making the most out of the summer to tighten up his handles.

"Just every day during the summer, I worked out almost every day of the week," White said. "At least five to six days a week every week. And every workout that I did on the floor consisted of ballhandling. Whether it was the warmup for five to 10 minutes or a 20-minute workout just straight ballhandling."

The coming days will shed light on the Bulls' decision regarding White's future. With Lonzo Ball's knee issues, White could be considered a suitable replacement should Ball remain absent. Either way, White has put together a respectable fourth season, and he's certainly worth keeping an eye on in the coming days.