CLEVELAND – It was a very familiar pregame warmup for Coby White on Saturday.
A few floaters, spot-up shooting, then some catch-and-shoots, getting into a lather in a t-shirt and shorts. Then came the reality check for the Bulls guard. That was again his only activity of the night.
White (right calf strain) is yet to play this season, but the fact that he went through pregame warmups in both Milwaukee and Cleveland, and was scheduled for a full-contact practice at some point during the three off days later this week, were all promising signs that a return was imminent.
A return that the organization unanimously feels will be seamless.
That question has actually been asked the last few days, as if White’s return could somehow mess up the rhythm of the stellar start to the season, and it’s been met with the same answer each time.
“I feel pretty good about him coming back,” coach Billy Donovan said. “He’s always been a team guy. The rhythm for him individually, he’s going to work through that and in time it will get better, but in terms of him seamlessly coming back, I don’t worry about the chemistry at all, not with him. He plays the right way. Being around these guys, his IQ, his years in the league, I think he’ll know how to come back and integrate himself.”
The way his teammates see it, the sooner the better.
This roster was built on depth and the ability to send waves of scorers at the opposing team in a high-tempo fashion. A skill that White showed all last season, evident by his career-best 20.4 scoring average per game.
Once he gets his minutes and conditioning up and becomes a regular fixture, all that does is stretch the bench out and give Donovan more weapons.
The fact that White is already well-versed in the personnel and offensive mentality is only a bonus.
“We saw that at the end of last season,” guard Kevin Huerter said of a White return. “Our style of play is very similar to what it was when I got here post-deadline obviously, and Coby was the engine for a lot of the stuff we were doing. We’re all really excited to get him back and we don’t expect too much of our identity and how we’re trying to play to change at all.”
The other guy
White wasn’t the only Bulls player getting closer to making his regular-season debut, as reserve center Zach Collins (left hand) was scheduled for a CT Scan this upcoming week, which should give the Bulls a more definitive timetable for his return to the court.
Donovan said that Collins had been getting running in and shots up with his right hand for weeks, but they were in a holding pattern with everything else. That could be changing.
“He’s still not in a position to pass or catch with that hand, but I think if he gets a good CT Scan and it shows healing there would be progression for him,” Donovan said.
Free Ayo!
Ayo Dosunmu (left quad) played Saturday once again under a 24-minute restriction, but that’s about to go away for the reserve guard. Because the Bulls were in their first back-to-back of the season, the medical staff wanted to ease him through the two-game gauntlet to make sure he was available.
He’s expected to be at a full workload come Monday against the Spurs.