Chicago's Coby White Keeps Rising in Most Improved Player Odds

Sitting at 11-17, a second straight year of blah mediocrity, I wouldn't blame you if you haven't been tuned into the Chicago Bulls. However, since star shooting guard Zach LaVine went down with injury during Chicago's drubbing at the hand of the top-ranked Celtics, the Bulls are 6-3 with a positive point differential (+3.5 points per 100 possessions) and above average on both sides of the ball.

That's not to say this is solely due to LaVine being out of the lineup, but it is notable how the ball is swinging and moving on offense. They're funneling the ball through Nikola Vucevic as he facsimiles as a point guard, moving the ball with pace and precision to the right places. Cutting lanes are open now that the offense moves with purpose.

While Coby White made significant strides as a player last season, he has taken that in droves this year, exploding as an offensive player, particularly in December. He's gone from looking like a solid rotation piece, to a legitimate Most Improved Player candidate. For reference, White was not considered a Top 30 pick for MIP by DraftKings Sportsbook to start the season, and he now has the fourth shortest odds to win today (+800).

That is a beyond significant leap.

White is averaging 17.5 points and 4.9 assists on the season, both career highs and he's doing it on career high efficiency (59.9% TS).

That puts even better perspective on what he's done over the past few weeks.

Across 9 games, White is averaging 25.4 points per game, 6.4 rebounds, and 6.8 assists (to 1.8 turnovers). He's shooting nearly 50% from the field while also hitting a staggering 48.2% from deep, which he takes 9.4 of per game. He won't shoot 50% from deep for the season, currently on a sensational heater, but what he's doing is replicable and real at a very high level.

His handle is noticeably tighter, a key development in his passing and playmaking as well as his downhill scoring. White is much more comfortable playing through contact and using physicality to create space, something we didn't see much or effectively earlier in his career.

I felt he made strides as a playmaker last season, but tying in his scoring growth and overall development, we're seeing a level of playmaking from Coby that I frankly wasn't sure we'd get to. He's make the quick and easy reads out of ball screens, but there are legit proactive passes being made that can manipulate and thwart defenses.

With LaVine seemingly a likely trade candidate sooner rather than later, it feels as though this version of Coby White is not going away any time soon. By and large, the Bulls should do whatever they can to keep supporting and encouraging the play the White is putting together. Point blank, he has been better for the Bulls this season than LaVine.

Is he a 1A star that you can build a team around? Who cares. He is a legitimately productive, impactful, and promising young player that has made strides over multiple seasons, and blown up in a big way in year five. He is THE player to talk about when factoring in what the Bulls truly have moving forward as an organization as they move on from this past iteration.

While his numbers aren't as stark on the whole of the season, I expect them to keep rising as he keeps this more solidified role. It will likely make it more difficult for him to "catch" the more entrenched MIP candidates in voters eyes', as he had a bit of a later start in this role, but anything can happen.

Current MIP Odds (Per BetMGM)

• Tyrese Maxey -150
• Alperen Sengun +550
• Scottie Barnes +650
• Tyrese Haliburton +1000
• Coby White +1000