There is a segment of Celtics fans who have already been calling for Ime Udoka to be fired.
If that's you, you won’t like this.
In trading for Derrick White, and to a lesser degree Daniel Theis, the Celtics have signaled a strong commitment to their new head coach and his style.
“He’s a perfect fit on and off the court,” Udoka said in an appearance on 98.5 Friday morning. “But more appealing than that is he knows what I want. I know him well. And obviously where he’s been brought up, we have a lot of similarities in our backgrounds, so he should come in and fit in seamlessly.”
Udoka and lead assistant coach Will Hardy both coached White in San Antonio; Udoka for his first two seasons and Hardy for two more after Udoka left. So in a sense, White is going from San Antonio to San Antonio East; a team that preaches many of the same principles and uses the same terminology, while coming from familiar voices.
He’s also a player under contract for three more years. He’s not in town to just be a temporary fix. That's what Dennis Schröder and Josh Richardson were.
Richardson was acquired for Moses Brown, a throw-in from the Kemba Walker deal, and a second round pick. Brown has since been waived. Brad Stevens took advantage of Richardson’s increased value to acquire White, who, at 27 years old, no longer fit the more youthful Spurs timeline.
“We started talking about Derrick a little bit ago,” Udoka said, adding, “He checks so many boxes. He's a true combo guard who can run the point, play off the ball, plays defense, distributes, can make shots. So you get a little bit of everything that we lost (at the trade deadline) with Derrick alone.”
Stevens also admitted to the long-term interest in White, saying “we've thought for years that Derrick was a really good fit with our best players. He is an excellent defender. He just makes the right play, on offense, over and over and over. He's a guy that only cares about winning, that will do all of the little things.”
By bringing White in, the Celtics have committed to a defense-first mentality preached by Udoka. White’s propensity for taking charges and blocking shots gives Boston another tenacious defender. He’s also a drive-first guy and a good passer with the Spursian point-five basketball mentality. By shipping Schröder and his isolating out and adding White and his driving, the Celtics are better suited to play how Udoka wants.
Not only that, they're paying a decent price to do so. Richardson, Romeo Langford, and potentially two first round picks is, some say, a lot for White. Even though Richardson was found money in a way and Langford was clearly ready for a change of scenery, the specter of two first rounders being paid for White is a lot, especially the 2028 pick swap.
“That's the one you lose sleep over for a couple of days,” Stevens admitted. “But I think the analysis of that is we have some really good players, and we have a person that we think fits in perfectly with them as another really good player that can only make them better.”
Translation: We’re willing to take a risk because we believe in this guy, with this team, and this coach.
Boston pushed the swap out to 2018 to preserve their ability to take a big swing in the short term, but it’s also a bit of Brad betting on himself that he’s hired the right coach, and that coach and these stars can carry Boston to being strong contenders for the foreseeable future. The goal for Stevens is to make that 2018 swap moot by making that pick the 30th (or close to it) in the draft.
The Celtics still have a lot of work left to do to build a true contender around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. White, a former teammate of theirs and Marcus Smart’s on Team USA, is clearly seen as a long-term piece of the puzzle who knows Udoka and his staff well, understands their goals, and will do whatever necessary to achieve them. His voice in the locker room is immediately important, as he can shed light on some of the nuance of Udoka’s style and demands.
In a sense, he can be a sort of translator so guys can better understand where Udoka is coming from. Maybe that can help guys like Aaron Nesmith and Payton Pritchard as they try to fight their way into more minutes. Maybe that can snap some things into focus for the rest of the group.
And for White, playing alongside two wings like Tatum and Brown can alleviate the pressure of having to take as many shots as he has, letting him focus on making more of the little plays necessary to be the glue Boston needs.
It’s possible none of this will work out the way Boston thinks or hopes. If it doesn’t, then back to the drawing board they go. But Brad Stevens has made one thing clear with this deadline move: The team will do what it needs to do to give Udoka his best chance to succeed. This move was as much about committing to him and his style as it was about anything else.
