Video Breakdown: Derrick White does a little bit of everything in first two games with Boston Celtics

It’s funny how much times change. 

In praising the newly-acquired Derrick White, Ime Udoka dropped what used to be a pejorative -- and I mean the worst kind -- to describe him. 

“He’s a true combo guard,” he said. 

That used to be the kiss of death. If I were writing this piece in 1992, the whole tone of it would be “you’re either a point guard or a shooting guard but you can’t be both.” 

I’d also be 50 pounds lighter and have hair. So maybe time changing isn’t so funny. 

Anyway, versatility is among the most valuable traits in basketball today, and the addition of White has shown that his ability to do a bunch of things ties a lot together for the Celtics. The Celtics noted in the immediate aftermath of the trade deadline that White gives them, essentially, the best attributes of Dennis Schröder and Josh Richardson rolled into one guy.

“He checks a lot of boxes across the board,” Udoka said. “Offensively, defensively, as a person, as a player. He’s someone we’re obviously happy to have.”

Let’s take a look at how he’s been able to help. 

First, here’s a play I love (a) because it’s gorgeous basketball, and (b) because White’s role in this play is both critical and easy to miss. 

Let’s go step by step. 

- Jaylen Brown probes, finds nothing, but gets the all-important paint touch. Now the defense collapses. 

- Swing to Marcus Smart and now there's one defender trying to cover two guys. Quick swing to Jayson Tatum. Notice White sliding up from the corner. He’s clearing a defender away so Robert Williams can slide over to the right side on a Tatum drive and catch the pass without help behind him. 

- Tatum drives. Rob stays put. White’s defender has left him. Brown backs up to the 3-point line. Here’s the critical part of the play: White recognizes the poor spacing and now the need for someone in the right corner, so he hustles over there. Tatum is stuck in the air and White’s quick thinking gives Tatum an outlet. From there, it’s once again one defender stuck with two guys, so White swings it quickly, Brown up-fakes two guys out of the play and drives, forcing the defense to step up. That opens up the lob to Rob. 

Simple recognition by White saves the play, keeps the ball moving, and ultimately leads to a brief 5-on-3. If White was lazy or didn’t see things unfolding, Tatum would have had to force a tough shot in the middle. 

Another way White is noticeably impacting the Celtics is just by pushing the ball. He’s not content to just turn and walk it up or wait for one of the other guys to set a play. White is trying to probe the defense and, maybe, create some advantageous situations for the Celtics. 

It might seem like nothing special, but how many times have we seen the ball come up over half court with a player raising his hand, walking slowly, calling out some kind of play, and basically letting the defense get set. 

Probe the defense. See what they've got for you on this possession. Are they all back? Ok, then pull the ball out and set a play. Are they scrambling a little? Then let’s see what a little pressure can do. 

And then there's Derrick White the pick-and-roll ball handler and screen setter. The Celtics have deployed him as both in these two games, and you can see how it’s going to become even more valuable as he gets more comfortable in Boston. 

In a nutshell, with White on the floor in closing lineups with Smart, Tatum, Brown, and Robert Williams, it gives the Celtics the option of attacking a weak defender in a variety of ways. Against Denver, White had Facundo Campazzo on him, so he went up to set the screen.

White rolls when he sees two go to Brown. Nikola Jokic isn't helping off Rob the lob threat and Will Barton is staying home one pass away. White rolls and gets a clutch late bucket. 

He did the same thing with Tatum vs. Atlanta

Again, two defenders went with Tatum, giving Boston a brief 4-on-3. White opted to take this, which is fine. It’s a contested layup, but he should have made it. However, White is not as used to playing with Robert Williams, so in time he will learn that drawing two defenders like that means a simple lob for an easier two. He also has two kick-out options, including Grant Williams in his corner office. 

White can also handle the ball in the pick-and-roll, working with Al Horford a couple of times. He can take advantage of the space on the floor, like in this play with Tatum, Grant, and Payton Pritchard all occupying defenders, to get to the rim. 

And he can also find the roller when he recognizes the defender in the middle stepping up.

That pass to Horford was just perfectly timed. The entire flow of that play is not something you’d expect to see from a guy who’s only been in town a couple of days. But when two high-IQ guys like White and Horford work together, all it takes is both guys being committed to making the right play. 

Using White as a pick-setter can work in off-ball situations. Like this play, where he sets a pin-down screen for Tatum. 

Udoka is taking advantage of a luxury here. Smart has the ball in his hands so he’s just waiting to see how the defense reacts. Again, White has Trae Young on him, so Boston is using the guy with the weakest defender to set the screen and seeing what happens. 

Here, both guys go with Tatum, so the easy read is to White for a 3. He missed, but that's an open shot. He could have decked it to force another rotation and maybe open something up for Tatum or Rob, but with five seconds left, the shot isn’t a bad option. 

White the off-ball screener gives Boston a great added element because he can take advantage of whatever mismatch teams choose. It’s something he didn’t see quite as much as one of San Antonio’s main options. Using him to screen for Tatum or Brown will give Boston good options no matter where the defense goes. 

When he does catch the ball, White can attack a closeout and make good reads. Finding him in the corner adds one added element of a guy they traded away, Romeo Langford, and his ability to attack from corners. 

Again, great recognition of where the defenders were and his cutting teammate. 

As noted by Tom Westerholm in the latest Locked On Celtics podcast, these two games have sort of been a perfect debut for White. He’s not a big-time scorer, so if he just came out hot from deep and dropped a pair of 30 point games, people might expect that forever. While he is capable of a big scoring game, that's not who he is. 

Who he is is what we’ve seen over the past couple of games. He’s a do-it-all kind of guy who ties a lot of what the Celtics are trying to do together. He’s another reliable piece of the puzzle trying to make the right play, and the more a guy like White is on the floor moving the ball and making quick decisions, the more it encourages other guys to do the same. 

“We've had some really good possessions of quick decisions and he’s a guy that, obviously, it's been ingrained in him to play fast and make quick decisions,” Udoka said at the team's Tuesday morning shoot around. “So it's natural for him and trying to get up to speed with other guys as well as use their strengths, which is getting baskets, isolations, and so that mix, obviously, makes us more lethal offensively. But I think it does stand out with the things that he does naturally and we're trying to build on that.”

Here’s more in the latest Locked On Celtics podcast.