The Charlotte Hornets have to figure out this Coby White question.
The Charlotte Hornets acquired Coby White from the Chicago Bulls in February and the UNC product has been a great addition. He's averaging 14.9 points per contest with the Hornets and shooting 43.1% from the field and 35.6% from beyond the arc.
With the regular season coming to an end and the Hornets in position to make the NBA play-in tournament, Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report has a White question for Charlotte: "How do we maximize Coby White?"
"When this season's trade deadline arrived, the Hornets were far enough into their 2026 takeoff to justify some aggressiveness from the front office," Buckley wrote. "And those decision-makers responded with multiple moves, none more important than the one bringing White back to his home state.
"As an ignitable scorer, open-court attacker and secondary playmaker, White has a number of roles he could fill for the Hornets. It's just that a lot of those roles are already handled by others. This offense was awesome even before he was added to it, so there's some onus on him to find ways to fit.
"That said, it's also on Charlotte to get him into the right role and comfortable with it as quickly as possible. He could play a sneaky-important role in the Hornets' hopes of escaping the Eastern Conference, but only if they figure out how to maximize his impact without disrupting any of the offensive firepower that preceded him in Charlotte."
The Hornets are 8-3 with White in the lineup. If Charlotte continues to win with White, the two sides will likely agree to a new deal this offseason.
White, 26, becomes an unrestricted free agent this offseason. He holds career averages of 15.4 points per game with the Bulls and Hornets.
Charlotte is currently the 10th seed in the East. The 10th seed needs to win two play-in games to make the playoffs. The Hornets haven't made the playoffs since 2016. It would be a great story to see Charlotte in the postseason in Year 2 of the Charles Lee era.
Hornets Roundtable also offers a fan community and message board. We’d love to have you join us to talk all things Hornets. Click the “Join” button at the top of the page to join our community for free.