Derrick White, extends 4yrs/$125.9M

InstaFace

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It's going to be funny when the Wemby Spurs and the Celtics swap the 29th and 26th picks in 2028. Vindication for the PickSwappers will finally be had!
Yeah, but with Tatum just being 19 then, there'll be plenty of time left in the window to recover.

Jokes aside, it's incredible that Tatum (March 1998) will have just turned 30 at the time of the 2028 draft. He'll have, probably, nearly half of his career still in front of him at that point. Derrick White (July 1994) is nearly 4 years older than Tatum. I think of them both as "young" but it's hard to bear in mind that White, because of his path to the NBA, really isn't that young anymore.
 

bellowthecat

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The block came right after White made 2 threes in a row when it felt like they had to have them, I honestly thought the man was about to burst into flames and two step the court into a triple back flip dunk like he was in a video game. Few players have instincts like Derrick White.
 

chilidawg

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View: https://twitter.com/lockedinjb/status/1851071801863950575


The physics behind this play fascinate me. Giannis is 7 inches taller (and has an 8 inch in wingspan), he's coming downhill with some momentum while White is turning and somewhat flat-footed. Forget about best shot-blocking guard, 99% of the league can't bother this shot from Giannis. How did he block this?
His shot blocking is truly remarkable. He doesn't have the physical attributes of a typical shot blocker, length and quick jumping athleticism, yet here he is stoning highly athletic bigs at the rim. I still don't get how he does it.
 

tbrown_01923

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He is relentless in getting into a safe position to make a play. Keeps his body away, if he can't square up, good timing. What if he was 6'9"? He'd be a terror
 

BaseballJones

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A cool 18.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 0.8 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game on the season with a .618 eFG%.
 

Van Everyman

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White would be an incredibly valuable player if it was mostly just the defense. The fact that he also drains threes and throws multiple dimes a game just makes him ridiculous.
 

Red Right Ankle

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DWhite is Patrice Bergeron on a court instead of a rink.
Patrice was a top 3-5 player in the NHL and his impact on the game always far outstripped his excellent box score stats. Tatum is the right analogy for the Patrice.

DWhite does a damn fine impression, though.
 

lovegtm

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Patrice was a top 3-5 player in the NHL and his impact on the game always far outstripped his excellent box score stats. Tatum is the right analogy for the Patrice.

DWhite does a damn fine impression, though.
Right, DWhite is clearly a top-2 player, so the comparison doesn't work.
 

Red Right Ankle

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Right, DWhite is clearly a top-2 player, so the comparison doesn't work.
I think he's some kind of basketball spirit, really. The Buffalo is probably his name in the spirit world. He had to shave his head in order to remain in this world and win championships.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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His shot blocking is truly remarkable. He doesn't have the physical attributes of a typical shot blocker, length and quick jumping athleticism, yet here he is stoning highly athletic bigs at the rim. I still don't get how he does it.
I personally think he's super quick off his feet, which is why he can make those blocks.

There is nothing not to love about DW's 2-way game, his hoops IQ and his presence as an unselfish team player. He is so easy to root for
He has bad teeth. :)
 

Euclis20

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Lever could fill up a box score like few in history at his size and White will never average 9 rebounds or 8 assists like Lever was averaging in his prime, but Lever also couldn't approach White's blocks (he averaged a modest 0.3 blocks per 36, compared with White at 1.1 blocks per 36) nor his efficiency. With KP out and Holiday/Horford taking slight age-related steps back (and with JB/JT continuing to improve their passing), White could average 18 points on 50/40/90 shooting while also averaging 5+ assists and 4+ rebounds. Those numbers are still underwhelming for an all-star, but take into account that he's an all-defense level player and playing for a team likely to win 60+, he'll definitely be in the mix. I believe there was a public list of 5 players who could have been injury replacements for Embiid at last year's AS game, and White (and KP) were on that short list so we already know he's close.
 

Saints Rest

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The crazy thing is you might be able to find a historical comp for 2024 Derrick White, but I'm not sure any of those players had a career path that compares in terms of college-rating or early NBA years. Joe Dumars, for example, came in as a 1st round pick and was a starter pretty much right away as a rookie, and full-time starter in his second year. By his 4th year, he was getting MVP votes and in his fifth year was getting DPOY votes, All-star and 3rd team All-NBA. Even in college, he was good enough to end up in the College B-ball HOF.
 

DGreenwood

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The crazy thing is you might be able to find a historical comp for 2024 Derrick White, but I'm not sure any of those players had a career path that compares in terms of college-rating or early NBA years. Joe Dumars, for example, came in as a 1st round pick and was a starter pretty much right away as a rookie, and full-time starter in his second year. By his 4th year, he was getting MVP votes and in his fifth year was getting DPOY votes, All-star and 3rd team All-NBA. Even in college, he was good enough to end up in the College B-ball HOF.
if we are taking draft position into account, maybe Dennis Johnson? Both taken 29th overall.
 

HomeRunBaker

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My green-tinted memory goggles tell me that DJ was never the most efficient shooter. Until crunch time.
Teams used to beg DJ to take open 17-ft elbow jumpers. He was not a very good face up shooter but a great post-up guy who could exploit mismatches like many PGs of that era when that was a thing.
 

benhogan

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After last nights perfect shooting night, DW is up to 55/48/92, 70 EFG%. 20 assists 4TO's. The most efficient player in the league?
I've been trying to figure out who is the Celtic's 2nd best player for a while now.

I think it's White for the regular season. BUT I have Brown for the playoffs due to his ability to play physical perimeter defense on the alpha scorers.

Small nitpick, but White also needs to start taking the team's technical FTs. He's been better than Tatum for a while now.
 

Over Guapo Grande

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Small nitpick, but White also needs to start taking the team's technical FTs. He's been better than Tatum for a while now.
Maybe other thread (james) worthy, but I have wondered if JT's new shot mechanics have thrown off his FT stroke. With DWhite I feel like I can step away saying "ok, that's two", not so with JT (surprisingly more so with JB)
 

benhogan

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Maybe other thread (james) worthy, but I have wondered if JT's new shot mechanics have thrown off his FT stroke. With DWhite I feel like I can step away saying "ok, that's two", not so with JT (surprisingly more so with JB)
The ultimate move would be for Tatum to hand the ball to White.
 

Euclis20

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I've been trying to figure out who is the Celtic's 2nd best player for a while now.

I think it's White for the regular season. BUT I have Brown for the playoffs due to his ability to play physical perimeter defense on the alpha scorers.

Small nitpick, but White also needs to start taking the team's technical FTs. He's been better than Tatum for a while now.
Much more valuable than the very marginal upgrade from White to Tatum (we're talking about a tenth of a point per attempt) is the idea that giving Tatum an easy free throw can get him going from outside, and when Tatum shoots well from outside, the other team just has no chance at all.
 

benhogan

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Much more valuable than the very marginal upgrade from White to Tatum (we're talking about a tenth of a point per attempt) is the idea that giving Tatum an easy free throw can get him going from outside, and when Tatum shoots well from outside, the other team just has no chance at all.
I've thought about the "get going aspect" but Tatum gets plenty of FTs/FGA to get warmed up/going.

OR we could get Derrick White going more ;) (Regardless, Derrick needs more FGA)

It would be JTs call, and I doubt he gives up free points.
 

Five Cent Head

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Much more valuable than the very marginal upgrade from White to Tatum (we're talking about a tenth of a point per attempt) is the idea that giving Tatum an easy free throw can get him going from outside, and when Tatum shoots well from outside, the other team just has no chance at all.
There must be analytics on this. Is this a real thing (someone getting going by hitting some free throws) or is it just a story basketball people like to tell each other?
 

Euclis20

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There must be analytics on this. Is this a real thing (someone getting going by hitting some free throws) or is it just a story basketball people like to tell each other?
There might be, but it's close enough in this case that I'm believing it. Including playoffs, Tatum shot 83.9% from the line last year, compared with White at 90.5% (less than 7 hundredths of a point). I'm having trouble finding out exactly how many technical foul shots a team will get over the course of a season, but it doesn't seem like enough to make any kind of real difference on the scoreboard. If there's any truth at all to a star hitting a free throw giving him a boost going forward, I'm taking that.
 

HomeRunBaker

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There must be analytics on this. Is this a real thing (someone getting going by hitting some free throws) or is it just a story basketball people like to tell each other?
It is definitely real just as the layup to get a guy going. I’m not sure if there are analytics that could accurately support it though. Moreso to do with the mental aspect of involvement that acts as a stimulant. Certain players also have a correlation of offensive success to defensive participation. I haven’t paid attention enough to notice it this is consistent or not but Pritchard is a guy whose energy seems to pick up defensively after scoring at least some of the time.
 
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lovegtm

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I thought they did a good job in OT and late game using the White-Tatum 2-man game to consistently target Haliburton and get great shots for both Derrick and JT.

Focus on White's raw attempts sort of misses the point for that reason.
 

benhogan

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Much like Cowbell we're gonna want more Derrick White.

They did a good job hunting Haliburton, shots just didn't fall. I'm not too bothered by the JAYs hoist-fest last night. If it was the playoffs, the JAYs probably bully him to the rim more.

Bigger picture: everything before the All-Star break is glorified pre-season for the Celtics. I'd like CJM to experiment with White having a slightly larger offensive role. Probably means separating White/Tatum when substitutions go into effect.

White's efficiency keeps climbing in Boston every year, especially with more MPG/FGA. Classic late bloomer.
 

Euclis20

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But will it get national distribution?
Inquiring minds (on the other side of the country) definitely want to know.

After a breakout season last year (15.2 ppg on .611 TS, both career highs), he's up to 19.0 ppg on .645 TS so far this year. He's been huge.
 

BaseballJones

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Current (very early season) advanced metrics:

ORtg: 130
DRtg: 112
WS: 1.9 (#2 on the team)
WS/48: .203
BPM: +4.9
VORP: 0.8
 

Smokey Joe

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I thought that they had already done one for the backcourt?

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Does this mean Jrue gets his own beer too?