2019 NBA Mock Draft: March Madness is NBA Draft crazy season
North Carolina. Coby White. 14. player. 38. . G
White was impressive against Washington on Sunday, nailing several tough shots to put North Carolina through to the Sweet 16. Rather than try to cut through the center of the Huskies’ zone, North Carolina charged in transition and prevented Washington from setting its defense. White was a huge reason why, setting up teammates in transition and getting free for 4-of-7 shooting from deep.
He is getting top-10 buzz all of a sudden, but January was a much better month to open conference play than March for White. It’s puzzling why he is rising, but we’ll weather the hype momentarily until it gets too strong. For our money, White is not demonstrably better than Tre Jones, let alone Romeo Langford.
White already turned 19 and will be 20 for half his rookie NBA season. His assist-to-turnover ratio and turnover creation numbers aren’t great. He’s not a great athlete. It’s tough to see his ceiling being anything more than a fringe All-Star unless his pull-up shooting reaches Damian Lillard levels.
However, White is a big, versatile body who can play on or off the ball on either end. He makes sense as another young player for Orlando to bring in and groom alongside Markelle Fultz moving forward.