Guard Coby White knows this Bulls front office didn’t draft him. It was the Gar Forman/John Paxson regime that made him the No. 7 overall pick in 2019.
What executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley have done with White, however, is make him feel welcome.
In White’s words, ‘‘The loyalty they have shown me speaks volumes to me.’’
Loyalty, however, soon will have a price attached to it.
White will be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career after the coming season. The Sun-Times reported several times during the offseason that White has told the Bulls he won’t sign an extension before or during the season.
Why would he?
Because his last deal of three years for $36 million was so franchise-friendly and because NBA rules cap a percentage on extensions at 140%, White would be doing himself a disservice by signing an extension before the season ends.
He would limit himself to just more than $18 million in the first year of that extension. For a player who thinks his floor is $30 million per year and his ceiling is $40 million, depending on how this season goes, loyalty only goes so far.
The sides have had an open dialogue throughout the process, and both parties understand 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’ve built with Coach [Billy Donovan] and me and my teammates are super-close. So I’m enjoying every moment.’’
Translation: White is betting on himself this season.
Why shouldn’t he? He has improved most of his numbers for three consecutive seasons, he’s a gym rat who works on every aspect of his game that needs working on and he’s in an offense that highlights his strengths.
The only pitfall would be an injury. The strained calf that will limit him throughout training camp and the preseason games isn’t serious enough to lose sleep over, but it does throw up a red flag.
As players such as Kevin Durant and Tyrese Haliburton can testify, what starts as a strained calf can lead to a season-ending torn Achilles.
‘‘The calf is nothing to play with, so [I’m] taking it slow,’’ White said.
That’s the only thing the usually quick-twitched White is taking slowly these days.
That doesn’t mean he and the Bulls can’t find a happy ending in all of this. Ideally, he finally will get All-Star attention this season and give the Bulls a compelling reason to make a big investment in a player who is still only 25 years as a foundation piece for the franchise.
That’s why there’s a wait-and-see agreement on both sides until a decision has to be made.
If the Bulls are underachieving at the trade deadline in February, they might look to deal 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 [with White],’’ Karnisovas said. ‘‘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.’’
