The Chicago Bulls announced on Thursday that guard Coby White will be out until at least the later stages of training camp following surgery to repair a left shoulder injury over the weekend.
The team said the injury occurred while White "engaged in basketball activities away from the team." Following the surgery Thursday at Chicago's Rush University Medical Center, the team said White would be reevaluated in four months. This would mean that an update will come just before mid-October for the 2021-22 regular season. The NBA will re-establish itself in its typical calendar after the last two seasons were called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
White, 21, is coming off an up-and-down sophomore season, averaging 15.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists, while shooting 41.8% from the field and 35.9% from 3-point range in 69 games, Coming off the bench almost exclusively as a rookie in which 54 starts.
"It's been a rough year for him," Bulls coach Billy Donovan told reporters in Chicago last month. "But I've always said this about him, he has great resolve. He has resilience, and he has great bounce-back potential. After the trade is over, I think he found his footing and really We played good basketball."
After missing the playoffs, the Bulls will wait to see if they retain their draft pick—who was traded by Chicago to the Orlando Magic in March as part of a deal for All-Star center Nikola Vusevic. Chicago, which is currently ranked eighth in the lottery, will retain its pick when it jumps into the top four spots in the lottery to be held on June 22. Chicago was ranked fourth in last year's draft after taking the seventh pick in the previous two years, taking on Patrick Williams when it took on White (2019) and center Wendell Carter Jr (2018).