Derrick White is a Transformer. There's more than meets the eye.
In terms of NBA players, White is kind of unremarkable off the court. He doesn’t get all fancy for the photographers walking into the game. He’s not flashing fancy jewelry or ornate tattoos. Even the one signature he had, his hair and hairline-hiding headband, have given way to a shaved head.
But every game day, White morphs from a generally low-key guy into a basketball monster. He’s a basketball robot in disguise.
When asked by JJ Redick on his latest podcast if he knew how good White was when he got here, Kristaps Porzingis immediately shot back saying “I did not!” But once he joined the club, he joined the Derrick White fan club.
“I said DWhite, I said what I love about you is, like, how you’re always making the right play for us,” Porzingis told Redick, explaining a film session exercise Joe Mazzulla asks the team to do. “And because of that, I hold you, and all of us hold you to such a high standard that it drives me crazy when you don’t.”
Not making the right play is rare for White. It happened in the second half against Indiana, and watching it was an incredibly jarring experience. It felt unnatural, because White is the one constant on the Celtics on any given night.
“We have the ability to play different matchups with him and then offensively he can both be a facilitator, he could score in pick and roll, and he can stay spaced and shoot catch-and-shoot shots,” Mazzulla recently said. “So just regardless of the lineup that's out there, he can make a positive impact on the lineup cuz he can go back and forth. Like does he need to score, does he need to pass, he need to defend how are we defending. So he’s just good at that.”
According to CleaningTheGlass, Boston is 14.1 points better per 100 possessions when he’s on the floor versus when he’s off. The offense is 8.8 points better and the defense holds teams to 5.3 fewer points. Boston’s effective field goal percentage goes up 6.1% when he’s on the floor and their turnovers drop by 3%.
In halfcourt offense, Boston’s points per 100 possessions are 16.3 points better with White on the floor. Boston’s field goal percentage at the rim is 10.6% higher.
White makes the team better. Right now, in the early going, he’s having a more positive impact on the Celtics than any other player and it’s not even close.
Hey, remember when people were upset that Romeo Langford, Josh Richardson, a 2022 first rounder, and a 2028 first pick swap might have been too much?
Here’s an example of making the right read for the right play, especially when other options are presented to him.
White had two chances to do something for himself in this play. The first was a pretty open shot from deep. It was a little far, but he had the space, and Jalen Brunson had taken a step below the 3-point line as he was about to get screened,
That's a shot the Celtics would actually be happy with, but White has already done the math. He knows there's an alley oop to be had on this play and that it was up to him to make it happen. That's why he passed on the shot.
Here’s the set up he’s already processed.
White has accounted for five guys on the floor. He sees Jrue Holiday’s defender hugged up pretty tight for a guy who isn’t one pass away. That and Mitchell Robinson, who is “defending” Porzingis, is already pretty flat. He’s not going to be able to keep an eye on the ball and his man. Jaylen Brown is a risk so he’s holding his defender there, all of which leads to a vulnerable rim.
The key now is to engage Robinson. It doesn’t matter what the two defenders in the pick-and-roll do, which includes Brunson reaching in on the drive.
This is where a more scoring-focused guard, like a James Harden, would swing his arms into a shot to try to draw three free throws
White, though, was aware of the better option, so he turned the corner.
Watch Robinson’s left foot. Once that opens up so he’s square to White, it’s the signal to throw the lob.
Robinson can never get back to contest it. Porzingis saw his moment when Robinson’s head was turned (again, because he was so flat to start, he has to turn his head more than rely on his peripheral vision), and the two connected on the lob.
It could be something as simple as making the extra pass, like this one against Milwaukee.
White had plenty of room to shoot that. He has shot more closely contested shots before and made them. But the right play is the very simple, very practical, smidge of a fake and get it to Jaylen Brown for the corner 3-pointer. White knows he has to keep the stars happy..
One of White’s greatest attributes is how he’s in constant motion. He rarely stands and watches if there's something he can do to help a play. It’s what led to this dunk by Luke Kornet.
He gave up the ball early to Payton Pritchard who started to run a pick-and-roll with Kornet. Once Alex Caruso squared up on Pritchard, White darted away down the sideline.
That's what got him in position to drive. Here, he could have gone one of two ways. The path he didn’t choose was continuing his path past Andre Drummond and looking for a cutter from the top (coaching note: ALWAYS cut from the top if a point guard is driving baseline), or he could have tried to find Sam Hauser in the corner.
Instead, he makes a nifty little move to cut off Caruso’s pursuit, forcing Drummond to step up. Just look at the little plant with his left leg and the push back into Caruso’s airspace.
I loved that little move, and it ended up being what sprung Kornet’s cut from the top (because he listens to coaching).
White makes little plays off the ball, too. Simple little reads that can have multiple functions.
Take this play, where Jayson Tatum drives against the whole Sixers team.
Jaylen Brown’s drive was cut off, so he gave it to Tatum. Holiday cut to the corner to take a defender with him, and it’s clear people are getting out of Tatum’s way. So White set a pin-down for Al Horford to pop up.
This has a couple of purposes. Obviously, it opens up Horford if Tatum gets in trouble and wants to kick it out. But more than anything, it occupies two Sixers in an action where they have to pay attention to their guys versus watching Tatum.
Look at where the defenders start:
Now look at where they end up because of the weak side action:
Tatum ended up finishing on the left side. White’s screen is what opened up that lane.
These plays are examples of why the team is so much better with him on the floor. He’s not just making passes and finding teammates, he’s doing things on and off the ball. He’s screening and spacing. He’s doing all the little things almost every play to make the team significantly better.
Tatum and Brown are the superstars who will lead this team in most categories on most nights. But White is the one guy on the floor who dabbles in a little bit of everything. He’s Boston’s most impactful player, and one of the biggest reasons why they're the best team in the NBA.
