Bulls introduce draft class, spirit, aura and all

Bulls coach Jim Boylen likes to dive into the essence of a player.

He chooses to examine spirit and makeup with as much energy as ballhandling and athleticism.

Heck, all that was missing from the Bulls’ introductory news conference for draft picks Coby White and Daniel Gafford on Monday was a breakdown of their aura colors.

But what really matters to Bulls fans is whether the two can play and the kind of impact they will have heading into the third year of the rebuild.

Those answers were provided, too — at least in the opinion of Boylen and vice president of basketball operations John Paxson.

‘‘We talked about positional size a lot; we talked about speed, quickness, athleticism,’’ Boylen said. ‘‘Those are the things we thought we needed with the group of guys we had, to add to them. Whether it’s vertical spacing, speed, making defenses chase people all over — all those kinds of things, we discussed. And as we went into the draft process, we were hoping to find players to help us with that. Thankfully, we have.’’

White was obviously the headliner at the Advocate Center. The Bulls selected him with the seventh overall pick Thursday out of North Carolina, where he showed an ability to score at will — and to do so quickly.

White will be asked to play both guard positions initially, but the Bulls hope he eventually will settle into the point-guard spot currently held by Kris Dunn.

‘‘I’m just coming in ready to compete,’’ White said of his challenge once training camp starts. ‘‘My whole life, I’ve been competing for everything; I’ve earned everything I’ve got. When I came to [North] Carolina . . . they had [guard] Seventh Woods in front of me. I think I competed for that spot and I earned it, so it’s not new to me.’’

Playing point guard in the NBA, however, will be. The knock on White is his ability to direct a team in halfcourt sets when the game slows down. He wasn’t great at pick-and-roll at North Carolina, and his decision-making needs some serious improvement.

Even Boylen acknowledged that.

‘‘One thing that him and I have talked about that we’re going to work on is the decision-making process, when we run and when we set up and the decisions we make in the halfcourt,’’ Boylen said. ‘‘That’s going to be part of us learning each other and growing. That was part of our meeting we had on how we use his strengths of being able to push the ball and get the ball over the timeline as fast as anybody, I think, in the league right now.

‘‘We’re not going to put him in this box where he just has to play this way. We’re going to use what he does well, and we’re also going to add to what we think he can do.’’

The same can be said for the 6-11 Gafford, who knows exactly what he is: a defender/rim protector first. Drafted in the second round out of Arkansas, he wasn’t bashful in assessing his game.

‘‘It’s always protect home first, offense second,’’ Gafford said. ‘‘So that’s kind of like how I base my game. I run the floor a lot. People say I run like a deer, so I’m just going to keep that in mind whenever I’m on the court.’’