Derrick White wins POTY...again

m0ckduck

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Derrick White is good at saving Joe Mazzulla from total, complete, public evisceration.
And Al Horford. Fouling Butler on that 3-attempt was the "Russell hitting the guy wire on the inbounds" before Havlicek's Steal: ghastly season-ending mistake that gets erased from public memory by subsequent heroics.
 

Ed Hillel

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Derrick White is good at saving Joe Mazzulla from total, complete, public evisceration.
Joe coached a good game tonight overall. Blaming him for the challenge is silly, it woulda been reviewed anyway.

Caveat - Free Timelord
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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What actually happened was that Derrick White did play late in the fourth and he saved the Celtics season. All the right outcomes were realized today. Celebrate them and get ready for the next one.
 

TripleOT

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This is how legends are made.

A very instinctive basketball player making one of the clutchest plays in Celtics history, saving the season, and keeping the reverse sweep alive.
 

TripleOT

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Jordan had The Shot as the first buzzer beater to stave off elimination.

Derrick White has The Tip, only the second buzzer game winner in an elimination scenario.
 

BigSoxFan

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This will be remembered like Derek Fisher’s 0.4 shot against the Spurs. Hope that season ends better for the Celtics.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Deal for White now "one of the best deadline deals in recent memory".

The real loser here is the field. White was available at a relatively reasonable price, yet it was one fewer and fewer teams appear comfortable paying. There were nine separate deals on deadline day that featured multiple second-round picks changing hands, but only two deals revolved around one first-round pick getting dealt for a single role player: Toronto's acquisition of Jakob Poeltl and New York's acquisition of Josh Hart.
That is the market inefficiency Stevens has used to build the supporting cast around his two stars. The Brogdon trade was a success. The Horford trade was a home run. But now the White trade has become the poster child for Boston's entire roster-building philosophy. It turns out, paying fair market value for proven NBA role players is a viable path to winning after all.

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/how-the-celtics-stole-game-6-hero-derrick-white-in-one-of-the-best-deadline-deals-in-recent-memory/
 

lovegtm

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Deal for White now "one of the best deadline deals in recent memory".

The real loser here is the field. White was available at a relatively reasonable price, yet it was one fewer and fewer teams appear comfortable paying. There were nine separate deals on deadline day that featured multiple second-round picks changing hands, but only two deals revolved around one first-round pick getting dealt for a single role player: Toronto's acquisition of Jakob Poeltl and New York's acquisition of Josh Hart.
That is the market inefficiency Stevens has used to build the supporting cast around his two stars. The Brogdon trade was a success. The Horford trade was a home run. But now the White trade has become the poster child for Boston's entire roster-building philosophy. It turns out, paying fair market value for proven NBA role players is a viable path to winning after all.

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/how-the-celtics-stole-game-6-hero-derrick-white-in-one-of-the-best-deadline-deals-in-recent-memory/
Brad has found a great shtick that only really works if you have 2 stars already, and don't owe future picks. Given that a late 1st often gets you good roleplayers, he can keep rolling his 1st each year into filling a 15-25M salary slot, while maintaining flexibility from that point on.

As long as teams keep selling solid roleplayers for one late 1st, it's very sustainable both in terms of the cap and draft capital.

It's tough for his competitors to do, since so many of the contenders already owe lots of 1sts.
 

SteveF

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As long as teams keep selling solid roleplayers for one late 1st, it's very sustainable both in terms of the cap and draft capital.
With the new cap situation, will it be sustainable in terms of the cap? Is it going to be necessary to have cheap role players on first contracts, especially if you are about to have two players on big max contracts? I don't post this just to be contrary, I genuinely don't know the answer.
 

Tito's Pullover

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Jordan had The Shot as the first buzzer beater to stave off elimination.

Derrick White has The Tip, only the second buzzer game winner in an elimination scenario.
If you had asked me to name all the buzzer beaters when trailing & facing elimination, I'd have come right out with MJ and then Kawhi's four-bouncer against the 6ers. But that was to break a tie. I had the final score right in my head, but misremembered it as a 3 rather than a long 2.

So that got me wondering - how many more buzzer beaters were there to win an elimination game, period?

Here's the full list per Reddit:
Derrick White, BOS vs. MIA, 2023 ECF, Game 6
Kawhi Leonard, TOR vs. PHI, 2019 Round 2, Game 7
Jerryd Bayless, MIL vs. CHI, 2015 Round 1, Game 4
Michael Jordan, CHI vs. CLE, 1989 Round 1, Game 5
Elgin Baylor, LAL vs. STL, 1964 Round 1, Game 3
Cliff Hagan, STL vs. BOS, 1957 Finals, Game 6

What do the most recent three have in common?
Three different opponents, but Jimmy Butler was on the opposing team each time.
 
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Five Cent Head

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If you had asked me to name all the buzzer beaters when trailing & facing elimination, I'd have come right out with MJ and then Kawhi's four-bouncer against the 6ers. But that was to break a tie. I had the final score right in my head, but misremembered it as a 3 rather than a long 2.

So that got me wondering - how many more buzzer beaters were there to win an elimination game, period?

Here's the full list per Reddit:
Derrick White, BOS vs. MIA, 2023 ECF, Game 6
Kawhi Leonard, TOR vs. PHI, 2019 Round 2, Game 7
Jerryd Bayless, MIL vs. CHI, 2015 Round 1, Game 4
Michael Jordan, CHI vs. CLE, 1989 Round 1, Game 5
Elgin Baylor, LAL vs. STL, 1964 Round 1, Game 3
Cliff Hagan, STL vs. BOS, 1957 Finals, Game 6

What do those last three have in common?
Three different opponents, but Jimmy Butler was on the opposing team each time.
I don't think Jimmy Butler was on the 1957 Celtics, but I could be wrong. ;)
 
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luckiestman

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If you had asked me to name all the buzzer beaters when trailing & facing elimination, I'd have come right out with MJ and then Kawhi's four-bouncer against the 6ers. But that was to break a tie. I had the final score right in my head, but misremembered it as a 3 rather than a long 2.

So that got me wondering - how many more buzzer beaters were there to win an elimination game, period?

Here's the full list per Reddit:
Derrick White, BOS vs. MIA, 2023 ECF, Game 6
Kawhi Leonard, TOR vs. PHI, 2019 Round 2, Game 7
Jerryd Bayless, MIL vs. CHI, 2015 Round 1, Game 4
Michael Jordan, CHI vs. CLE, 1989 Round 1, Game 5
Elgin Baylor, LAL vs. STL, 1964 Round 1, Game 3
Cliff Hagan, STL vs. BOS, 1957 Finals, Game 6

What do those last three have in common?
Three different opponents, but Jimmy Butler was on the opposing team each time.
first three? Maybe I English different
 

benhogan

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So many levels to DWhite's greatness last night.
whoops my bad that was against the Heat, Bontemps gave me that stat, but got this off an ESPN article today:

He held the Heat to 1-of-12 shooting (and 0-of-4 from 3-point range) when he contested the shot. And Heat star Butler shot 0-of-6 when White was his primary defender.

Teammates shot 6-of-8 off his passes for 12 points

Excerpts from the article:

Since White made his Boston debut on Feb. 11, 2022, the Celtics have ascended, posting a regular-season and playoff record of 102-49 (.675 win percentage), the best in the NBA during that span. During that stretch, White has the fifth-best plus-minus in the league, trailing his Celtics teammates Jayson Tatum and Al Horford, along with Denver's two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon. He has played 150 games in that span, the most in the league. He received second-team All-Defense honors this season -- his first career All-Defense selection -- and led the Celtics with 76 blocks, the most of any guard in the NBA.

"Derrick was -- and maybe still is -- the most underrated player in the league," one Eastern Conference front-office executive said.

In Boston, the praise for White is effusive, overflowing, borderline obsessive. "He does whatever it takes to win a possession," Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens told ESPN. "He plays really hard, and he's really smart. And he always plays with a second effort."

Said Celtics governor Wyc Grousbeck, "He makes everybody better. We love Derrick White."

This season, their first full campaign with White, the Celtics posted 57 regular-season wins, their most since 2008-09, when Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen headlined a Big Three squad that won one title and reached two Finals. Then, in 2013, the Celtics dealt an aging Garnett and Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets for a cache of first-round picks that they hoped would form the foundation of their next title contender. Those picks eventually yielded Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. But in the decade since that 2013 blockbuster trade, the Celtics' efforts to round out their roster -- moves that have landed Gordon Hayward, Kyrie Irving, Isaiah Thomas, Kemba Walker and Terry Rozier, among others -- have largely failed.

Over time, the Celtics realized they needed, in many ways, a player just like Derrick White.

"The best compliment you can get as a player is probably that you made everyone around you better," Stevens said. "And how many guys can you get on the court that can do that for each other? I think that's a superpower."

Said another Eastern Conference executive: "You would think that there's a lot of those guys. "There's not as many as you think."

in his second season, in Game 3 of the Western Conference first-round series against Denver, White exploded for a career-high 36 points for the Spurs. After that game, he says today, he finally felt like he belonged.

From afar, the Celtics were watching.

INSIDE THE CELTICS' front office, White's name had been batted around since his time at Colorado. In 2019, White was named to the 13-man USA Basketball Select Team that trained with the USA national team. He played with Tatum, Brown and Celtics guard Marcus Smart, who all offered a positive response to the Celtics' brass. And watching him, too, during Team USA practices in Las Vegas was Stevens, the Celtics' coach.

"It's very rare that you say, oh my gosh, he just screams, he would be so fun to play with," Stevens said. "He's very comfortable in who he is. He's about the team. And he's really good. He plays with the right pace. He guards really hard. He always makes the extra pass. He's an energy-raiser on the court. it was pretty clear in all those."

White could come off the bench, or start, shoot 15 shots or none at all and would be fine. "Brad really values culture and professionalism and guys who are team-oriented," one Eastern Conference front-office executive said, "and that's Derrick to a T."

A critical point: White didn't require the ball to make an impact. "When you're building a great team, you want to get a series of players that can each be their best self with each other," an Eastern Conference front-office executive said. "And if you get too many guys that are only good with the ball in their hands, you really only get half of what they're each capable of."

Boston had run through a number of players who needed the ball to be impactful; it hadn't worked.

The Celtics needed something else, and, by January 2022, they needed it fast.

They were floundering, with a home loss to a sub-.500 Portland Trail Blazers team dropping them to 23-24. Frustration loomed across the organization. As the Feb. 9 trade deadline approached, the Celtics zeroed in on White -- "Boston was desperate to find a guy like him," one Western Conference executive said -- but the Spurs, league sources said, had no interest in moving him. White had become beloved in the organization, a key part of its culture. When White held his wedding in Colorado, several members of the Spurs' front office attended and White thanked his coaches for helping develop him.

"Derrick was a guy that everybody in the league wanted," the Western Conference executive said. "The Celtics were just persistent." Boston came in heavy, offering Romeo Langford and Josh Richardson, a first-round pick in the 2022 draft and a 2028 first-round pick swap. It was the sort of offer the Spurs couldn't refuse, but, sources said, the Spurs also wanted to ensure they were sending White to a good situation, to a team that was headed in the right direction.

The Celtics had offered a princely sum for someone who averaged 14.4 points per game, but their internal analytics projected White more favorably than surface-level statistics indicated, including as one of the top defensive guards in the league. White's ability to reach top speed from a stationary position also ranked among the best on the Celtics -- and today, the staff marvels at his abilities in transition defense and how he can stop an opposing fast break even if he's outnumbered. They marvel at his anticipation.


White was just one role-player addition who has paid dividends. Before acquiring White, the Celtics had traded for veteran big man Al Horford In June 2021. After trading for White, Stevens acquired another veteran guard, Malcolm Brogdon, in July 2022. Both Brogdon and Horford have been integral. "Derrick is by far the best acquisition of all those," the Western Conference executive said. "He is an unheralded star on the Celtics team this year."

Stevens, the architect of last year's Finals team and this year's squad that hopes to join it, and the coach who tried to make it work with so many additions that never quite added up, finally has the player the franchise has spent the better part of a decade looking for.



https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/37746432/the-most-underrated-player-league-how-celtics-star-derrick-white-ascended-game-6-savior
 

TripleOT

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Derrick White is a 21st century Dennis Johnson, a do it all guard beloved by teammates, who love to play with him.
 

dhellers

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Derrick White is a 21st century Dennis Johnson, a do it all guard beloved by teammates, who love to play with him.
Yes!
What is odd were the implications (from Pop and others) that he lacked self confidence. Which seemed to be what hobbled him in the 2022 finals.

But ... I wonder if Derricks relatively difficult path to professional basketball tempered his resolve? So that he was mentally able to persevere and develop his "clutch" capacities.
Maybe Tatum and Brown could learn something from this?
 

radsoxfan

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White is just really good.

Best defensive guard on the team (despite DPOY Smart’s rep), does everything well and can adjust his game to play with anyone.

He’s pretty clearly the 3rd best overall player on the team (RAPTOR is down on Jaylen and has White #2).

It’s confusing when Joe doesn’t give him big 4th quarter minutes.
 

Jakarta

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Amazing that moving him to the bench last round was viewed as the key move. I can imagine it is difficult mentally to see your teammates excited for someone to take your place. But he stayed ready and has been great this round and rewarded with the basket of a lifetime.
 

TripleOT

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Amazing that moving him to the bench last round was viewed as the key move. I can imagine it is difficult mentally to see your teammates excited for someone to take your place. But he stayed ready and has been great this round and rewarded with the basket of a lifetime.
Two bigs were necessary to deal with Embiid physically. ATL and Miami call for more speed and defensive versatility. White is team oriented, so it wasn’t a surprise that he accepted the move out of the starting line up.
 

lovegtm

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White is just really good.

Best defensive guard on the team (despite DPOY Smart’s rep), does everything well and can adjust his game to play with anyone.

He’s pretty clearly the 3rd best overall player on the team (RAPTOR is down on Jaylen and has White #2).

It’s confusing when Joe doesn’t give him big 4th quarter minutes.
Until the last couple games, White had shown no ability to guard Butler, and was getting hunted pretty mercilessly. They closed game 4 with a Grant/Marcus lineup and successfully avoided giving Jimmy anywhere to attack that way.

DWhite really stepped up his coverage of Jimmy in the past 2 games. It's a combination of not biting on fakes, sitting on his moves, and Jimmy seemingly not having the legs to get to his fadeaway anymore.

I thought Mazzulla handled things quite well in terms of lineup choices, and started playing White more as White started to play better. It's not solely due to Brogdon being out: as noted above, he was closing with Grant before White took his D to another level.
 

tims4wins

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Until the last couple games, White had shown no ability to guard Butler, and was getting hunted pretty mercilessly. They closed game 4 with a Grant/Marcus lineup and successfully avoided giving Jimmy anywhere to attack that way.

DWhite really stepped up his coverage of Jimmy in the past 2 games. It's a combination of not biting on fakes, sitting on his moves, and Jimmy seemingly not having the legs to get to his fadeaway anymore.

I thought Mazzulla handled things quite well in terms of lineup choices, and started playing White more as White started to play better. It's not solely due to Brogdon being out: as noted above, he was closing with Grant before White took his D to another level.
The not biting on fakes thing has been a marked turnaround in games 4-6. It still happens here and there but it's been close to a 180.
 

lovegtm

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The not biting on fakes thing has been a marked turnaround in games 4-6. It still happens here and there but it's been close to a 180.
There were multiple "attention to detail" points of emphasis that the team really bought into after game 3. Credit to the staff for finding them, and to the players for focusing and executing.
 

TripleOT

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There were multiple "attention to detail" points of emphasis that the team really bought into after game 3. Credit to the staff for finding them, and to the players for focusing and executing.
Mazzulla showed his frustration early in the series when he threw his clipboard. In hindsight, it looks like his team thought it could just go through the motions to beat the Heat, without the attention to detail necessary, since they felt they were a superior team. So they get into two close home games due to good Miami three point shooting, and then fumble away the fourth quarters, as they like to do against the Heat.

Like a kid doing his yearlong school project the night before it is due, there was zero margin of error after falling behind 0-3. Either play hard and lock into to your assignments, or you fail. As long as Butler doesn’t go Steph Curry tonight, Boston should advance
 

radsoxfan

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Until the last couple games, White had shown no ability to guard Butler, and was getting hunted pretty mercilessly. They closed game 4 with a Grant/Marcus lineup and successfully avoided giving Jimmy anywhere to attack that way.

DWhite really stepped up his coverage of Jimmy in the past 2 games. It's a combination of not biting on fakes, sitting on his moves, and Jimmy seemingly not having the legs to get to his fadeaway anymore.

I thought Mazzulla handled things quite well in terms of lineup choices, and started playing White more as White started to play better. It's not solely due to Brogdon being out: as noted above, he was closing with Grant before White took his D to another level.
White has definitely defended better the last couple games, but Butler is also just really good. If he’s playing well you can’t penalize someone too much for getting beat, it just happens.

In general, White is a really good defensive player and has been for a long time. He didn’t suddenly get good at D and should be out there more often than not in the 4th.
 

Euclis20

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White has definitely defended better the last couple games, but Butler is also just really good. If he’s playing well you can’t penalize someone too much for getting beat, it just happens.

In general, White is a really good defensive player and has been for a long time. He didn’t suddenly get good at D and should be out there more often than not in the 4th.
As the series has gone on, Jimmy's midrange shot has abandoned him. When that shot is on, as you note he's very tough, but bigger defenders (Tatum/Brown/Smart) can get a hand up and make it a bit harder, while White really has to sell out to bother his jump shot. Selling out against Butler leaves you wide open either to a foul or a quick blow by, which is why it looked like White really couldn't stop him for the first part of the series. Without his jumper Butler still has the strength to get close to the paint, but with help right behind him White can be more aggressive, and he's really making it hard for Butler to get good looks inside 10 feet.
 

lars10

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As the series has gone on, Jimmy's midrange shot has abandoned him. When that shot is on, as you note he's very tough, but bigger defenders (Tatum/Brown/Smart) can get a hand up and make it a bit harder, while White really has to sell out to bother his jump shot. Selling out against Butler leaves you wide open either to a foul or a quick blow by, which is why it looked like White really couldn't stop him for the first part of the series. Without his jumper Butler still has the strength to get close to the paint, but with help right behind him White can be more aggressive, and he's really making it hard for Butler to get good looks inside 10 feet.
I think as the series has gone on that the Cs have got a lot more disciplined on not biting on his pump fakes.. if you stay down he loses the edge of having the defender up in the air to jump into or dribble around
 

benhogan

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White/Zingis/Brown should be able to hang in there when Tatum is off the floor (which has been a problem for a while now).

From the Athletic

https://theathletic.com/4714667/2023/07/24/celtics-jayson-tatum-jaylen-brown-mailbag/source=dailyemail&campaign=601983

The shift from Smart to Porziņģis will still be a significant one. How will Tatum and Brown adapt to life next to another high-usage scorer? Will they strike the right balance between looking for their own offense and getting Porziņģis involved? Will they miss Smart, who could run the offense and find guys where they need to be? He might have been the Celtics’ best organizer last season, but Tatum has often controlled much of the offense anyway, especially late in games. The threat of Porziņģis could help to open opportunities for Tatum and Brown, but the formula with the big man will just be different than it was with Smart.

As much as the All-Stars will be impacted by the trade, Derrick White's role should be impacted the most. The Celtics believe he can handle more point guard responsibilities. He hasn’t manned that position too often in Boston, but the team has absolutely dominated during his brief time at the spot. According to Cleaning the Glass’ position estimates, the Celtics blasted opponents by 25.8 points per 100 possessions with White at point guard during the 2021-22 season and by 15.7 points per 100 possessions last season. He will probably run some more pick-and-rolls. He will probably play a few more minutes than the 28.3 per game he averaged last season. He will probably be in the closing lineup every night. If he plays like he did last season, that should be a good thing.
 

benhogan

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White is interested in an extension

https://www.celticsblog.com/2023/8/4/23819178/green-with-envy-should-the-boston-celtics-extend-derrick-white-payton-pritchard-malcolm-brogdon

these guys speculated about a 3yrs/$90MM extension (with 2yrs left on the current deal).

2023/24 $18.4M (age 29)
2024/25 $19.6M

A vet ext (140% +yearly 8% raises), would look like this:

3yrs $85.5M (final year age 33)

I wonder if DW would turn down 3yr ext at $75MM? (Dennis Schroeder must still regret turning down the bag)
 

JakeRae

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White is interested in an extension

https://www.celticsblog.com/2023/8/4/23819178/green-with-envy-should-the-boston-celtics-extend-derrick-white-payton-pritchard-malcolm-brogdon

these guys speculated about a 3yrs/$90MM extension (with 2yrs left on the current deal).

2023/24 $18.4M (age 29)
2024/25 $19.6M

A vet ext (140% +yearly 8% raises), would look like this:

3yrs $85.5M (final year age 33)

I wonder if DW would turn down 3yr ext at $75MM? (Dennis Schroeder must still regret turning down the bag)
If White wants to extend at 3/85 I think you do that without a second thought.
 

benhogan

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I expect we'll see better end-game production with DW playing closing minutes over Smart

https://www.celticsblog.com/2023/8/25/23836505/saying-quiet-part-out-loud-trading-marcus-smart-says-about-derrick-white-brad-stevens-boston-celtics

Advanced stats don’t just like Derrick White, they adore him to stalkerish levels. If I was Derrick White, I’d be checking my backyard for EPM, LEBRON, and RAPTOR lurking back there. Here are his ranks in the various advanced stats (Celtics first, league-wide second):

  • 538’s RAPTOR: 1st and 27th
    BBall Index LEBRON: 2nd and 37th
    ESPN RPM: 2nd and 27th
    Dunks and Threes EPM: 2nd and 31st
You can probably guess, but the only Celtic he trails in any of these stats is Jayson Tatum (One note, JT is 2nd in the NBA in ESPN’s RPM, which means it’s unequivocally the best stat going.).
 

Jimbodandy

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I expect we'll see better end-game production with DW playing closing minutes over Smart

https://www.celticsblog.com/2023/8/25/23836505/saying-quiet-part-out-loud-trading-marcus-smart-says-about-derrick-white-brad-stevens-boston-celtics

Advanced stats don’t just like Derrick White, they adore him to stalkerish levels. If I was Derrick White, I’d be checking my backyard for EPM, LEBRON, and RAPTOR lurking back there. Here are his ranks in the various advanced stats (Celtics first, league-wide second):

  • 538’s RAPTOR: 1st and 27th
    BBall Index LEBRON: 2nd and 37th
    ESPN RPM: 2nd and 27th
    Dunks and Threes EPM: 2nd and 31st
You can probably guess, but the only Celtic he trails in any of these stats is Jayson Tatum (One note, JT is 2nd in the NBA in ESPN’s RPM, which means it’s unequivocally the best stat going.).
DARKO has him at 4th and 57th, which seems more right. I mean, no system should have him above Tatum unless the criterion is "has the name Derrick White".
 

benhogan

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DARKO has him at 4th and 57th, which seems more right. I mean, no system should have him above Tatum unless the criterion is "has the name Derrick White".
He really felt like their 3rd best player last season.

Love his archetype next to the JAYs, limits mistakes & gets back on D.

Brad seems really good at putting the puzzle pieces together. He has the draft ammo to push this team over the hump at the trade deadline.
 

Jimbodandy

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He really felt like their 3rd best player last season.

Love his archetype next to the JAYs, limits mistakes & gets back on D.

Brad seems really good at putting the puzzle pieces together. He has the draft ammo to push this team over the hump at the trade deadline.
White might be even more important and valuable this year too. I'm completely bought in on him.
 

RorschachsMask

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I’m more bullish on White at PG than I can even describe lol. The on/off numbers from last year are just staggering. Obviously sample size plays a part, but it definitely matches the eye test.

Smart at PG/White off the court: 1827 possessions, -2.3 net.

White at PG/Smart off: 985 possessions, +15.7 net.

Smart at PG with Tatum in: 3126 possessions, +6.5 net.
White at PG with Tatum in: 818 possessions, +17.5 net.

Smart at PG with Jaylen in: 3100 possessions, +3.0 net.
White at PG with Jaylen in: 644 possessions, +13.1 net.

Smart at PG with Rob/Tatum in: 426 possessions, +3.3 net.
White at PG with Rob/Tatum in: Only 303 possessions together, so much smaller sample, but they had a +35.1 net.

Part of this is White is more aggressive when he’s at PG, but it was also that Tatum has more responsibility when Smart would sit.

White
Jaylen
Tatum
KP
Rob

is an INSANE lineup, on both ends.
 
Last edited:

Jimbodandy

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 31, 2006
11,406
around the way
I’m more bullish on White at PG than I can even describe lol. The on/off numbers from last year are just staggering. Obviously sample size plays a part, but it definitely matches the eye test.

Smart at PG/White off the court: 1827 possessions, -2.3 net.

White at PG/Smart off: 985 possessions, +15.7 net.

Smart at PG with Tatum in: 3126 possessions, +6.5 net.
White at PG with Tatum in: 818 possessions, +17.5 net.

Smart at PG with Jaylen in: 3100 possessions, +3.0 net.
White at PG with Jaylen in: 644 possessions, +13.1 net.

Smart at PG with Rob/Tatum in: 426 possessions, +3.3 net.
White at PG with Rob/Tatum in: Only 303 possessions together, so much smaller sample, but they had a +35.1 net.

Part of this is White is more aggressive when he’s at PG, but it was also that Tatum has more responsibility when Smart would sit.

White
Jaylen
Tatum
KP
Rob

is an INSANE lineup, on both ends.
I'm getting pumped thinking of this. White's good decision-making and fundamentals enabling all of those guys at both ends is secret sauce.

I'm team bubble wrap/12 man rotation for the 82.