The Chicago Bulls were fairly transparent in their desire to select a point guard in the 2019 NBA Draft, and it quickly became clear that they would take Coby White out of North Carolina. Chicago can only hope that White pans out to be anything close to the quality of his favorite point guard, Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard.
In a piece focused on the 2019-20 rookie class, White told ESPN's Anthony Olivieri that he is stoked to lace up the sneakers against Lillard:
Article Continues Below“Probably Damian Lillard. He's my favorite player. He has worked for everything he has had. He has earned everything and he's such a bucket. He plays the point-guard position well and is one of the best point guards in the league. Definitely looking forward to taking on that challenge.”
Although Lillard is smaller and stronger than the younger White, the two players do share some similarities. Both guys have shown the ability to fill it up from beyond the arc and make plays in transition, and both excel in pick-and-roll.
The Bulls are hoping that White takes better care of the ball after he averaged nearly four turnovers per game in the NBA Summer League. He undoubtedly has playmaking ability and incredible pace, but White is going to have to slow things down at times and grow more comfortable running the offense through Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen.
Chicago will actually play Portland twice in a span of four days–first in Chicago on Nov. 25 and then in Portland on Nov. 29–so White will see plenty of Lillard in due time.