At the trade deadline, the Bulls shipped away their superstar guard Zach LaVine and gained three role players, seemingly mailing it in for the remainder of the 2024-25 season. Arturas Karnisovas, the man responsible for finally pulling the trigger on the long overdue LaVine trade, said the remainder of the year would be a learning opportunity for the young players and that making the playoffs would only benefit the remaining youthful assets. After a rocky start to the post-LaVine era, Chicago has ripped off their eighth win in ten contests, including six wins against teams currently in the playoff picture. Tonight's win over Denver, their third straight road win against Western Conference postseason foes, has officially turned the attention back to a potential playoff push. The catalyst of their newfound success, much like the blueprint to their limited success a year ago, has been the emergence of Coby White. What changed for the 25-year-old guard, and how far can he carry this team of misfits?
Hottest Guard In The NBA
White logged his third straight game of 35 or more points, dropping 37 on 11-of-22 from the field, including five three-point field goals. Through his first 61 games of the season, he hadn't attempted seven or more free throws in back-to-back games. Over the last three, he's averaging 11 tries from the charity stripe and has made 29-of-33. The newfound aggression is due mainly to the absence of his running mate and former leading scorer, LaVine. However, further injuries to Nikola Vucevic, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Giddey have allowed White to be the primary ball-handler and scoring option. In an almost identical maneuver to last year, after LaVine went down to injury, White has stepped up in a big way.
The fans get it... COBY WHITE IS HIM 👏
— Bulls on CHSN (@CHSN_Bulls) March 25, 2025
He is the 5th player in franchise history to record a streak of at least 3 straight 35-point games. pic.twitter.com/FQhK5aUBnI
The league has caught on to the legendary streak that the former Tar Heel is celebrating, and his latest honor puts him in a category with a fellow Tar Heel and Chicago Bulls icon.
Also today: Coby White became just the second Chicago Bull in franchise history to win Eastern Conference Player of the Week for two weeks straight … joining a certain Michael Jordan.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 24, 2025
Phoenix’s Kevin Durant was named POTW in the West.
More NBA from me: https://t.co/X3WXNUNMqh pic.twitter.com/wEyGTcg3nT
Bulls Playoff Picture Getting Clear
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it's evident that the Chicago Bulls are NBA Play-In Tournament bound. This would mark the third consecutive berth and the third in a row that they'd likely meet the Miami Heat. If the playoffs began today, Chicago would host the post-Jimmy Butler Heat, who have been sliding in the postseason picture since his departure. The loser of Atlanta versus Orlando would await the victor for the last spot in the dance and the privilege of meeting the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers.
Bulls keep winning, defeating Nuggets in Denver tonight. The ninth-place Bulls (32-40) have won three straight and are 1.5 games ahead of 10th-place Heat (30-41) in East.
— Anthony Chiang (@Anthony_Chiang) March 25, 2025
10th place would require Heat to win two road games during play-in just to make playoffs as No. 8 seed.
Can the triple-double hunting Josh Giddey and flamethrowing Coby White continue to carry this new-look Bulls team, and has some newfound hope gained momentum around the franchise? With ten games remaining, Chicago is in the driver's seat for their postseason blueprint.
