The Charlotte Hornets have landed themselves a significant update on Coby White's free agency.
When the Charlotte Hornets acquired Coby White in a trade deadline deal with the Chicago Bulls, many wondered how they would handle his upcoming free agency.
White entered the year viewed as someone who could potentially bag $25-30 million annually on his next deal, but a persistent calf injury that limited him to just 50 games — while also causing a dip in production — threw a wrench into that.
Still, it's hard to imagine that the Hornets landed White without planning to re-sign him, and given that the 25-year-old is a North Carolina native (and Tar Heels alum), you would think that he would prefer to re-up with his hometown squad.
ESPN's Bobby Marks provided an update on Charlotte's chances of retaining White this summer, and let's just say the Hornets' chances look pretty good.
"Outside of [LaMelo] Ball, the Hornets have no players on the roster earning more than $23 million," Marks wrote. "The addition of two first-round picks will bring the roster to 14 players with salaries between $2.4 and $22.9 million. As a result, Charlotte is in a strong position to re-sign White and use all of its $15 million non-tax midlevel exception."
Coby White. Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images.White played in 21 games off the bench for the Hornets this season, averaging 15.6 points, three rebounds and three assists over 19.3 minutes a night on 46.1/39.1/83.9 shooting splits.
On the year as a while, White registered 17.4 points, four assists and 3.4 boards across 25 minutes per game while shooting 44.6 percent from the floor, 36.2 percent from three-point range and 81.7 percent from the free-throw line.
The former No. 7 overall pick had been trending upward before this past season, establishing himself as one of the better up and coming scorers in the league. But there is no question his down year has affected his free agency status.
Nevertheless, there appears to be mutual interest in a reunion between White and Charlotte, so unless another team comes along and blows him away with an offer (which seems unlikely), the most probable outcome is that the combo guard will ultimately re-sign with the Hornets.
Of course, nothing is guaranteed, so we will have to wait and see what happens between now and July.
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