CelticsBlog exit interview: Derrick White is still everyone’s favorite role player

The Derrick White Expertise is ever-expanding.

The Derrick White you see in the present day is a far cry from the person who debuted in Celtics inexperienced on Feb. 11, 2022.

That model of Derrick White, sporting a scarf and hair that popped out like a head of cauliflower, was actually a jack of all trades, and a grasp of none. From 2019-2021, he was a profession 35% shooter from behind the 3-point line, a succesful scorer and passer that averaged 11.6 factors and three.7 assists per evening, and an admirably strong perimeter defender.

The Derrick White of in the present day, the one who shed that hair and headband combo to be a bald-headed murderer, is a special type of beast, and is indubitably one of many league’s premier non-star gamers.

For a 3rd straight season, White shot 38% or higher from past the arc, this time on the best quantity of his profession (9.1 makes an attempt) and on the very best self-created shotmaking effectivity of his profession. Largely from his sizzling perimeter capturing, his 58% eFG proportion was additionally the very best of his profession.

That scoring contact solely appeared to amplify when the sport reached clutch minutes. In 29 common season video games, White was third in clutch scoring (2.1 factors) behind the Jays, second behind Kristaps Porzingis in FG proportion (56.7%) and first in 3-point proportion (56%).

Within the 5 postseason video games to succeed in clutch time, which Boston went 1-4 in, White was the one shooter above 40%.

This season spelled the tip of a two-year streak of All-Defensive Staff honors for White, however he was nonetheless one of many league’s finest perimeter defenders and the undisputed high shot-blocking guard within the NBA. White averaged a block per sport for a 3rd straight season, whereas 3-point shooters’ FG% was 3.8% worse when guarded by White and an absurd 13.4% worse on pictures 6 toes or much less from the basket.

White can also be top-of-the-line off-ball chasers and screen-navigators within the sport, ending within the 96th percentile in ball display screen navigation in accordance with BBall Index.

On high of all of the statistical proof aligning with our collective eye assessments, White was additionally only a sturdy fixed inside the Boston rotation. This was the fourth consecutive 12 months that White performed 70+ common season video games, and in a postseason the place 4 of Boston’s 5 starters handled some type of damage, ailment or sickness, White was the one participant to not be talked about on the damage report.

The Celtics limped to their second spherical exit towards the Knicks, however White had his justifiable share of playoff-rising performances. White recorded his third and fourth 30-point playoff video games, one in every sequence, and averaged 19 factors on 46% FG effectivity, following up final 12 months’s title run with one other serving to of that dependable do-it-all affect.

Boston finds itself in a flux this offseason. Faces that performed a component in Banner 18 will likely be out the door, whereas the face of the franchise recovers from damage. That leaves loads of questions, and large choices, for Brad Stevens to face, however there must be constants amid the roster reconstruction.

The Celtics are going to look so much totally different subsequent October, however Derrick White is a continuing that has to stay. No commerce nets one other Derrick White, nor does a draft decide present excessive sufficient odds of discovering the following Derrick White.

Surrounded by chaos and uncertainty, it’s good to know that there are particular constants to this world: the solar rises and units, time at all times strikes ahead, Joel Embiid’s Sixers will end wanting the convention finals, and when the fourth quarter rolls round, Derrick White is hitting an enormous shot.